Eclipse: Void
by megadoomingir
Summary: Sequel to Eclipse, so read that. All was thought to be at an end when Reep and Chi were put behind bars. No one, not even ZiM, could have foreseen the return of a most powerful and revolting evil. An evil only interested in the smeet ZiM swore to protect.
1. Trial Part 1

**Hello, fans. Remember the first Eclipse? Apparently, that wasn't enough for you. SO! I'm writing the second story. This is for all the fans who are crazy (or not so crazy) for this story. And for those who are playing catch up, you might want to read the first Eclipse. Just click on my author name and then the story Eclipse. C'MON, IT'S ONLY 35 CHAPTERS! …**

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There was a smug look on the Irk in the middle of the stage. Normally a trial such as this would warrant less press coverage, a crowd or the regal audience of the Tallests themselves, but this was a trial never conducted before. The trial now being surveyed and reviewed was in place to determine whether or not ZiM, formally known as a failure, was a fit guardian for the newly discovered smeet he had been protecting.

ZiM was in the center stage, his smirk never leaving his face and shuffled his feet a bit as the five control brains chosen for his evaluation debated among themselves on how to proceed.

The little Irk chuckled, "If you worry whether ZiM's amazing PAK brains will turn you into your crazy predecessors, ZiM will promise to be good."

The chatter among the control brains ceased and the middle one spoke in a booming voice, "Your actions against their sanity was deliberate?"

ZiM nodded happily, "Oh, yes. They were probing thoughts and memories that would potentially expose the existence of the smeet, but he is known now and there is nothing that ZiM needs to do in order to protect him from you or the Tallests."

The brain on the far left beeped in acknowledgment, "Your explanation is reasonable. But we shall still proceed with caution."

A pair of cables poked through the stage floors and the audience behind ZiM hushed. The Tallests' attention were now focused on the scene down in front, instead of the sack of donuts they had each received a few minutes prior.

ZiM grumbled and allowed the cables to attach to his PAK, the control brains now having full access to all the data he had.

One of the brains on the right piped up, "Your actions in the past are to be deemed invalid seeing as your behavior made a complete reversal once you encountered the smeet. However, if our decision cannot be swayed, your past will become a greater part of our final verdict."

ZiM nodded, "I understand. But ZiM is confident you will find nothing to warrant such an action."

The control brains only responded with a hum and their viewing screen became alight with the first memory ZiM had involving the smeet: spotting him from his hospital bed. It had been a strange and joyous realization for the planet Irk when ZiM had been hospitalized due to a strange illness shortly after the botched Impending Doom One plan. After he had 'recovered', ZiM had been sentenced to Foodcourtia.

The memory continued on, a little hazy seeing as ZiM was dying, but the crowd and the Tallests all watched ZiM sacrifice his body by giving his PAK to the smeet to save the strange child from being tortured by the hospital's doctors. After the hologram of ZiM from the PAK overtook the smeet's stranger attributes, the memory blanked out.

After a few moments, the control brains were able to reestablish the feed and a new memory overtook the screen.

_There was the sound of sniffling and quiet sobbing. The area looked like an invader's dorm and it appeared that the smeet, now with ZiM's PAK as a cover, was sad to be in the living space of the Irk that had just died for him._

_There was a soft confused, groan and the smeet whimpered, "H-hello? I-I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'll leave if I'm not a'pposed to be here…"_

_ZiM's voice broke through a small silence, "… How is this even possible?"_

_The PAK suddenly detached from the smeet's back, returning the child's features back to his version of normal, and floated about the room, tentacles reaching out in confusion and anguish._

"_ZiM lives!" it murmured hoarsely, "ZiM's PAK should be a useless shell by this point! Shut down was imminent!"_

_The smeet had backed away from the raving device and whimpered softly, "Choo?"_

_The PAK beeped and returned its focus on the little blue-eyed Irken, "Ah… ZiM apologizes…" it hovered closer to the smeet, "But you are safe now, yes?"_

_The smeet nodded, his lightning bolt-like antennae bobbing with him, "Uh huh… we got out an' I found out where you live… lived?"_

_The PAK looked about the room, "I suppose it's not much a life now, but this is acceptable for ZiM at the moment."_

_A tentacle from the PAK patted the smeet on the head, "You'll have to excuse ZiM, but the sudden reboot has corrupted a few files. You told the mightiness that is ZiM your name?"_

_The child smiled and giggled softly, "'m name's Eleven, r'member, ZiM?"_

_The PAK's shell zoomed right up to Eleven's face, "And how do you know the mightiest name of ZiM which that is ZiM?"_

_The smeet squealed and laughed loudly, not sure whether ZiM was serious or being playful. The PAK didn't seem to know either, since it simply hovered back a little to inspect the strange little smeet._

_One of ZiM's tentacles picked Eleven up by the foot and hung him upside down to look him over, "Curious. You laugh when ZiM speaks to you?"_

_The smeet squealed louder and pulled his shirt up to hide his face as he continued to laugh. The PAK felt a whir of emotions as it watched Eleven peek out slowly from behind his shirt, his blue eyes much brighter than they had been when in the hospital, and giggled, hiding himself again. _

_ZiM decided cradling the smeet was much more logical than hanging him upside down and took Eleven into two tentacles to keep him stable, "Do you find ZiM something amusing?"_

_The smeet peeked back out again, but didn't show his entire face, "I like you. You're funny."_

_The PAK beeped as it processed the answer, "ZiM? Funny?"_

_Eleven nodded and pawed at ZiM, squeaking softly. _

_The PAK let out a small and happy sigh, "Well then," ZiM concluded, "it seems you will have to stay with ZiM for a while, now won't you?"_

_The smeet nodded and reached up to give the PAK a hug. And ZiM accepted it._

The memory ended and a few Irks in the crowd were clearly moved. But ZiM remained as he was on the stage. That was just one memory. There were still countless others that had to be found and reviewed. Some would be relevant, others superficial and that was what worried ZiM the most. The PAK had promised the smeet he would protect and stop the Irken Empire from finding and using him as a weapon, but with everyone not knowing that ZiM and Eleven were one in the same, he had been abused as though he had never changed.

The PAK could feel the sinking fear in his holographic gut and turned off his hologram, wanting everyone to think him bored rather than afraid of losing the one thing that kept him somewhat sane.

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**Yeeeeeeeep… So, I'm back. Review, yada, yada, yada, and read the first Eclipse if you have NO IDEA WHAT'S GOING ON. Don't know when I'll be able to update, I have stuff goin' on, but nevertheless, I will try my hardest to… you know… post.**


	2. Trial Part 2

**Another chapter for the rabid fans… Unless… you aren't rabid, which means this chapter isn't for you! Again, if you haven't read the first Eclipse, DO SO. I'm not going to re-type half of that story into this one just so a few people can understand the whole of it all…**

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The duration of the trial was full of memories much like the first one. There were a few ZiM wasn't all that proud of, like when he had allowed himself to get beat up by the planet jackers and thus got Eleven harmed as well, or when he was almost discovered to be alien by the humans which would have also done harm to the smeet. But most of them were simple little memories, like Eleven asking a question which ZiM would try to answer in a way the child could understand or doing a little project with the smeet to keep him busy.

The PAK still had not reinstated his hologram as the trial was pressed on. He refused to allow the crowd to make their own assessments on his reactions and thus made himself a blank slate while the control brains sifted through what they wanted and left out facts they deemed useless to their verdict.

Many of the Irks were surprised with ZiM's patience with the smeet at times, like when he had a nightmare and wouldn't go back to sleep, but could plainly see that yelling or doing to smeet harm would only have made it worse. There was an instance played on the screen at the moment when the smeet had just started crying in horror…

_Eleven was just sitting at the couch kicking his feet and staring at GIR while he slept on the floor. A little spider fell from the ceiling, using a string of thread to get down safely and all the while the smeet watched with interest and cooed happily. The spider made its way to the ground and waddled around for a little bit… until GIR rolled over and ate it, then snuggled back to sleep._

_Eleven stared with a deep horror and sadness and started to sob quietly, which then turned into a loud cry._

_ZiM's PAK detached itself and created a hologram of his original body, sitting next to the smeet, "Eleven, why do you cry now? Nothing has happened, you are safe. But perhaps you are bored to the tears of anguish?"_

_Eleven pointed at GIR, still crying, "He ate the baby spider! It's dead and GIR killed it!"_

_ZiM looked to GIR, then back at Eleven, "Smeet…" he began slowly, not sure how to proceed, "You… must learn not to become attached to creatures such as those."_

_The hologram shook his head. No, no, those weren't the right words._

_He tried again, "Do you know how many spiders are in a birthing sac?"_

_The smeet hiccupped, "I-I dunno… hundreds?"_

_ZiM nodded, "That is right. And there are so many because the mommy-unit spider knows not all of them will make it. Some of the eggs never hatch and some of the babies eat each other, so hundreds are born to ensure at least a few will make it."_

_Eleven whimpered, tears rolling from his eyes down his cheeks._

_The hologram pulled the smeet close, "Now you listen to ZiM, for ZiM does know things. Not all that is born will have a chance to make an impression on this universe. Most of it goes unnoticed. But you have a strange and powerful gift, smeet. You see the little things and enjoy its company, like the little spider, but sometimes you have to let things go."_

_ZiM could see the words start to sink in for Eleven, but he wasn't quite there, "Think of it this way," he tried to say in an upbeat tone of voice, "The little spider had no idea what had happened. One second he was there and the next he was poofed. He is basically asleep in a never ending dream."_

_Eleven's antennae perked, "Where only the good things happen?"_

_The hologram chuckled and patted the smeet on the head, "That's right."_

'_No matter what the circumstance,' ZiM thought to himself, 'as long as he's fed, warm, and safe, ZiM will always be able to stand hearing him cry…'_

The memory ended and the control brains beeped, but the middle one spoke, "Such patience for a situation so meaningless."

A slight growl came from the PAK as it responded, "Meaningless is not a word to describe that situation. His comfort was suddenly disrupted when my robot killed something. In case you brains are too brainless, the smeet is the essential being to all life."

A murmur came from the crowd and Tallest Purple cheered, muffled only by a mouth full of donuts.

The center brain thought it over, "… Agreed. Prior conclusion on this memory revoked. It is valid."

A brain on the right growled impatiently, "We have an equal number of pros and cons of your parenting abilities, ZiM. While you've managed to hide and teach him without the intervention of the Empire, you still managed to place him in harms way when it suited your needs. I call for an immediate vote to have the smeet taken into protective custody!"

The audience gasped and murmured, but the rest of the brains remained unphased.

The brain on the far left piped up, "We will not be swayed simply by a feeling. Memories only tell a partial story, one which we are seeing only from the accounts of ZiM. Therefore, I ask for a vote on speaking with the smeet himself."

The noise from the crowd ceased and the rest of the brains accepted the proposition.

"Confirmed." "Confirmed." "Confirmed." "Confirmed."

The screen went blank and began to establish communications with ZiM's base on earth.

The Irken emblem popped up, then the sound of wailing and screaming as a visual of the living room came into view.

The PAK immediately recreated a hologram with which to work with and yelled up to the screen, "Eleven? Smeet, you will answer to ZiM's call!"

The brain on the right hushed the Irk, "You will stay quiet! You are not to speak while we conduct our investigation."

ZiM glared, hissing, "But he could be-"

The center brain cut him off, "I agree with my associate. Your audial presence may influence the smeet."

Everyone watched the screen as an Empire guard, one of the three left at ZiM's house to watch and protect the smeet, ran into the living room and ducked under the couch. Another one came walking in, his hands over his antennae and the last one came in with the screaming smeet in his arms.

"Could you shut him up?" the second guard hollered.

"He won't stop crying!" the first guard's muffled response came from under the couch, "Make him stop, make him stop, or I'll start-" the guard started crying.

The guard holding the smeet tried rocking Eleven back and forth, "No, no, hush… it's… quiet time? Or is it naptime?"

The crying guard under the couch started banging his fists on the floor in a sobbing tantrum, "I MISS NAPTIME!"

The second guard growled and hollered again, "Could you shut him up, he's giving me a headache!"

Eleven stopped crying for a moment, then screamed louder, insulted and hurt, "I want ZiM! Lemme see ZiiiiiiiiM!"

All-in-all, the smeet and a guard were crying, another guard was rocking himself back and forth whispering 'shut up, shut up, shut up' and the final guard was contemplating killing the crying guard.

The center brain calmly cleared his throat and said in a booming voice, "Cease! Your actions will now come to an immediate halt!"

Everyone in ZiM's living room hushed and the guards who were visible stood in salute.

Eleven simply whimpered, then looked surprised when he saw ZiM, "Choo?" he said softly.

ZiM smiled gently and waved, "Hello, smeet, ZiM is here once more."

The smeet squealed and pawed at the screen, telling the brains so much more than what ZiM could have hoped for.

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***yawns* I'm hungry. Great response to a yawn, no? So… yeah, this is the second chapter. ^^**


	3. This Is Your Fault

**Another chapter because I can and I don't want to get writer's block and stuff… or just get bored…**

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Eleven continued to giggle and squeal as ZiM stayed on the screen. The smeet's demeanor had made a complete reversal on account of ZiM's visual presence.

The control brains made sure to take note of that.

The center brain hummed quietly, "Little smeet, you like ZiM, don't you?"

Eleven squealed loudly and hid his face in the guard's shirt with excitement, "I do!" came the muffled response.

The smeet peaked out to smile at ZiM and ZiM made a funny face for him. Eleven screamed and laughed, nuzzling against the guard. The guard smiled and nuzzled back.

"ZiM!" barked one of the brains, "Continue such conduct and you will be removed for the duration of this part of the trial!"

ZiM scowled and crossed his arms angrily. Eleven whimpered and pouted softly.

The center brain continued, "Guards, wait in the other room until further instructions are given."

The guards groaned. After finally seeing the smeet happy and adorable, they had to leave him.

The guard holding Eleven set him down on the couch and waved as they went to the kitchen, "I'll miss you, you happy little smeet."

The smeet watched them go, then jumped up on the couch on his tip toes, hugging the screen, "ZiM! I missed you, I missed you!" he looked at the screen, "When are you coming home? I wanna play games but the guards say they can't play games."

The brain on the right spoke up, "Smeet, you will refrain from addressing ZiM. You will speak to us for the duration of the trial as needed."

Eleven pouted and nodded, "Oh… o'tay…"

The center brain beeped, "Now then… how would you categorize ZiM in three words?"

The smeet gasped and thought for a minute, "ZiM is… smart! Real smart an' umm… He's strong, too, cause he can hurt anybody who tries to hurt me an'… an' he's…" Eleven stopped to smile as he thought as hard as possible, "ZiM's the only person ever in the history of ever who's helped me."

Tallest Purple whimpered, tears in his eyes and hugged onto Red for support as he sobbed, moved by the smeet's honesty. Red shoved him away.

The brains hummed as they processed the answer; then the brain on the far left spoke, "Smeet, would you say ZiM has done everything possible to keep you safe?"

Eleven nodded, "Yes, yes! He makes sure all the security systems work an' he makes sure that GIR doesn't mess wif me an' he makes me the sanswiches!"

Some of the Irkens 'ooed' at the thought of a good sandwich, but settled down after a moment.

"Smeet," the right brain mumbled, "how would ZiM react to a verdict involving your immediate removal from his care?"

Eleven's antennae fell flat against his head, "Umm…"

He was nervous now. He could feel the pit of his squeedlyspooch tighten in fear.

"ZiM," Eleven whimpered, "I'm scared, I don't wanna go away."

The hologram smiled, "Smeet," he said softly, "only answer what you believe is true."

The smeet nodded, "O-o'tay… o'tay… Well…" he looked to the brains, "I think ZiM would be really… really upset… But he would be good! He would ask for a chance to prove his awesome ZiMness!" the smeet squeaked and ZiM chuckled, "Then if ZiM couldn't take care of me no more, he would ask for visits!"

Eleven nodded again at his final answer then looked confused, "ZiM… I'm still scared…"

The brains hummed, the center speaking for them, "Smeet, our verdict is beginning to sway in your favor. Are you still worried?"

The smeet began to shift, his breath becoming quick, "ZiM, I don't feel safe, I don't feel safe here."

ZiM's antennae perked, "Smeet, what's wrong? Talk to ZiM?"

Eleven whimpered, "ZiM, I'm scared, I don't feel safe. Come back, come back home now, please."

Red and Purple began to grow worried as they watched the smeet. They chattered among themselves quickly.

"Guards," Red said to the screen, "guards, come back. Tend to the smeet."

The guards came back to the living room in a rush, taking the smeet from his perch and checking him over to make sure he wasn't injured.

"No, no, no," Purple shook his head, "engage the base's defenses. Lock down the perimeter. Begin a full scan of the area."

The guards left Eleven on the couch to activate the base's laser controls, working quickly.

ZiM growled at his Tallests, "Forget what they said, just do both!"

One of the guards stopped what he was doing and went back to the smeet, trying to comfort him.

The brains began to grow worried now. From what they had observed, the mere presence of ZiM should have calmed Eleven completely. The fact he was nervous and scared, even after he was told their verdict looked positive, was not something to be overlooked.

The center brain grew agitated, "Smeet, calm yourself. You are being protected by three elites of the Irken Empire, there is nothing to fear."

Eleven shook his head, "No, no, something's wrong an' I want ZiM here, now!"

"Sirs!" one of the guards working the controls suddenly shouted, "It seems ZiM placed a specially-made satellite over this planet and it's… gone, sirs… It's been out of operation for almost three hours."

The crowd observing the trial gasped and murmured.

ZiM's eyes grew wide and full of fear, "You listen…" he hissed, "You listen to ZiM. You take the smeet down as far as you can into the base. You hide him. ZiM is leaving, _now_."

A small knock came from the door. No one moved.

Eleven curled up onto the couch, shivering and whimpering while the guards stared at the door, unsure of what to do.

ZiM shook his head as a guard went to answer, "Don't… don't you dare."

The guard froze, his hand on the knob. Everything fell silent as the guard barely turned the knob at all.

A sudden explosion of fire tore the door from its hinges and sent the guard back, his antennae alight with a bright red fire. Eleven screamed and dove for the safety of under the couch and ZiM pulled his PAK from the cables connecting him to the brains, yelling for the guards to protect the smeet.

The other guards tried to spring into action, but were quickly melted out of commission by a bright wave of fire. The guard crushed by the door managed to pick himself up with a groan and fire a laser at the mystery assailant. There was a laugh as the laser fire was deflected and hit the hangers holding the living room's second TV screen. The feed the trial occupants were receiving almost cut out, but simply became a little grainy.

ZiM's eyes widen, "No! Get the smeet out, protect him, damnit!"

The only sound anyone could manage to hear was the crackling of the flames then the soft sound of footsteps crunching through glass. A humming tune began to make the air feel heavy and sick as the mystery assailant walked from the front door to the couch. They couldn't see much from the TV's prone position, but they could only infer the worst when they heard Eleven shriek in terror. A laugh accompanied the smeet's scream, which was then muffled by a hand.

ZiM would have cried in anger and frustration if his holographic form would have allowed it. He felt so powerless.

The mystery assailant held Eleven closer to his person, then turned to the broken TV, "Oh, now what a shame this is, isn't it, my little smeet?"

The smeet could only give a muffled sob in response. The assailant kicked at the TV a little and his person became more focused. A few Irks in the audience screamed and dove for cover and the Tallests themselves grew pale.

The Irk before them had dark purple eyes and a dark purple shirt with a dark colored belt and a large, single piece of dark purple shoulder armor resting on his right shoulder. The infamous Irk who had attempted an act so cruel and vile that life imprisonment seemed more suitable than allowing him the sweet embrace of death. _Reep_.

Reep smirked down at the screen, "Isn't this a turn of events? Strange and curious…"

"No…" ZiM shook his head, "NO! NO, NO, THE TALLESTS LOCKED YOU AWAY!"

Reep chuckled, "Locked away, but not sealed indefinitely. Seems when the wounds healed…" he held up his hand, which soon expressed a darkly lit flame, "I was left with a beautiful scar…"

Eleven struggled in Reep's grasp, digging his little claws in in an attempt to escape and get help. The grip only increased.

"Let him go," ZiM hissed.

Reep seemed to stop and think about it, then smiled, "No, I don't think I will. The smeet is mine now, ZiM. You will have no place in Eleven's life when I'm through."

Reep then picked up his boot and slammed it into the TV, crushing it and severing the feed. The trial brains' screen went black.

ZiM fell to his holographic knees, deep in shock. He couldn't move and he couldn't take his eyes off the TV screen.

"… Fault…" he suddenly managed to murmur, "This is… your fault."

Everyone's focus slowly landed on ZiM.

"Your fault," he said again, getting to his feet, "This," he growled as his PAK opened, "is your fault!"

The trial brains seemed to shrink back as ZiM's attention was aimed at them, his eyes a blazing red.

"If ZiM wasn't _dragged_ here," he bellowed, "if ZiM had never been forced to come here, Eleven would be safe!"

A flurry of robotic tentacles escaped the PAK, throwing themselves into important pieces of equipment and damaging anything they could lay a hand on.

"THIS IS YOUR FAULT!" ZiM shrieked.

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**Wow, three in one day. Be merry, BE MERRY! …**


	4. Slow Motion

**OMG another chapter? I write this to make people happy, but I want to dedicate this story to three avid readers: **

**KoopaEater- you've been wantin' this story for forever, no?**

**Ranekaera- you, too, have been waiting for this.**

**VickytheIronTalon- our friendship was made through Eleven, so this whole thing is very special to the both of us. :33333**

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It was nearly sundown when Reep had kidnapped Eleven. The smeet was under his arm now, whimpering and trying to scream but was muffled by one of Reep's hands. The Irk was walking quickly to avoid confrontation by nosy humans and so had taken alleyways as it had grown darker to stay hidden.

He was almost to his ship now. It was deep within the park, nestled among the trees to keep it from prying eyes.

Reep cautiously jumped over a gate, the smeet in his arms whimpering for help again.

"You know," Reep cooed smoothly, "you should really try to reserve your strength. You'll tire yourself out trying to escape and that would mean an early bedtime."

Eleven whined and bit roughly into Reep's hand. Reep stopped walking and pulled his hand away, inspecting it. He couldn't see blood seeping through the glove, so he ignored it and continued on, covering the smeet's mouth again before he could scream. The child was quickly becoming a nuisance.

Eleven kicked out and tried to keep Reep's hand away but even he knew Reep was right when he said he would tire. The smeet wanted to go to bed and wake in the morning to find himself at home, with ZiM downstairs yelling at GIR again and nobody knowing he existed except ZiM. He knew that wasn't going to happen.

"No!" the smeet shouted, trying to keep Reep's hand from silencing him, "No! Go away! Leave me alone!"

Reep growled and pushed against Eleven's tiny hands, trying to walk and keep the smeet quiet as he went along, "Struggling will get you nowhere, little smeet. Now hold still."

Eleven let tears fall from his eyes and he shook his head, "No! I wanna go home! Please, just take me back home! Please!"

Reep's growl deepened and he silenced the smeet roughly by slipping his glove off and gagging him with it. He needed him as quiet as possible until he could get him back to the ship. Just a few more minutes and he would be home free.

Eleven trembled in Reep's grasp, scared out of his wits. He tried curling up into a little ball, but Reep shook him gently to stop him from doing that. So the smeet settled for giving himself a hug to calm his nerves. That and imagining what ZiM would do once he had his holographic hands on Reep wasn't too bad an idea, either.

Reep smirked when the smeet stopped fighting him. Probably thought it better to just listen to him than continue with something so pointless.

The purple-eyed Irk came to a large gate and jumped over it, hugging Eleven close when he yelped in surprised. Reep landed gracefully on the other side of the gate and patted the little smeet on the back.

"Hush now," he cooed again, "We're almost to your new home. Aren't you excited?"

Eleven shook his head roughly, trying to spit the gag out. Reep just chuckled and looked at what he had left to accomplish to get to his ship and off the planet. He just needed to run across the street and into the park, where he would find his ship, strap the smeet down, and get him off this rock. Seemed simple enough.

Reep's PAK opened, his spider-legs springing out and he ran forwards at the street, the PAK's spider legs pushing him off the ground and landing him a few yards into the park. The smeet clung to Reep's shirt, eyes shut tight in fear. He hadn't been expecting that.

Reep smiled and hugged Eleven close, trying to comfort him, "Oh, now don't be afraid. I've got you."

The smeet wanted to glare up at his captor and snap at him, but refrained from it. He didn't want to push Reep too far and find out what this monster was truly capable of. Eleven settled for an angry jerk of the head away from his captor.

Reep's PAK retracted its spider-legs as he continued onwards, quite pleased with the lack of response the Tallests had prepared for the protection of the precious little smeet. He knew they were moronic, but this was a new low.

The monster smiled at that thought. He was going to surprise everyone with his final transformation and then rid this universe of every parasite. It would be glorious.

A sudden jerk from the smeet pulled Reep from his thoughts and watched as Eleven pulled the glove-gag out of his mouth, then glared up at him as he threw it into the bushes.

"Go an' get it," the smeet ordered with a point.

Reep growled, carrying Eleven over to the bushes to search for the discarded cloth, "Did you believe I would set you down to commence my search?"

The smeet said nothing and simply crossed his arms, watching the monster scour the bush for its nasty glove. He hated Reep very much.

The purple-eyed Irk finally managed to pull his glove out from the bushes, damp from the dew and saliva from the smeet's mouth. It would need to be washed.

Reep's attention then went to Eleven, whose eyes went wide and antennae became rigid at the sudden interest. The smeet whimpered and shrunk back, worried his prior actions were to be met with retaliation, but the monster simply sighed and patted him on the head.

"We'll just have to work on your manners, won't we?"

Eleven felt himself growing confused and even more so when Reep cradled him during the rest of the walk into the park, nasty glove swung over a shoulder. The smeet tried to look for small chances of his escape, one last mad, crazed dash for freedom, but the monster's grip was firm yet gentle and his gaze would drop back down to the child every few seconds in order to read his expression.

It seemed he wouldn't be able to escape this time.

Eleven sighed to himself, and tried to think of what ZiM would do at this point. Well, he probably would have used his PAK most of the time, that was for sure. It was at moments like this that the smeet hated being so abnormal. And using his own powers was out of the question. He was sure that was what Reep wanted and he already promised himself that _now_ was his childhood and he would only use his powers when he was an adult, whenever that was. Too far away for him to count at the age he was, Eleven was sure.

The smeet started looking for his escape route again, planning in his head how he would do it. He really wanted to incorporate kicking Reep in the shins somewhere in there, but he always found it would be too time consuming.

Reep was making his own plans, too, if the smeet had somehow managed a break for it. The plan itself would have to have been executed quietly and in a manner that wouldn't harm the smeet. Reep tried to incorporate a lengthy speech in there about how Eleven was to live with him now and there was nothing the Empire or that moron, A.K.A. ZiM, could do about it, but even thinking about it seemed too time consuming.

The monster sighed inwardly and glanced up, spotting its well-cloaked ship hovering over a small grove of tree, "Here we are," it murmured, "seems we've arrived quicker than expected."

Eleven gasped and whimpered, "Please," he pleaded, "just let me go home. I don't wanna leave Earth, I wanna stay here."

Reep ignored his prize and approached the ship, which landed carefully on the ground to meet its master. The hanger door opened and, in doing so, dropped its cloak. Eleven saw the size of the ship, which looked to be about the same as a normal two-story house and wondered why Reep hadn't just picked up something faster. The smeet took this as a sign that he would be rescued because the ship had to be slow to be a 'recreational vehicle' such as this one. Right?

Reep boarded the ship, Eleven under his arm, and tossed his glove into the air as the doors closed, "Have this washed."

The glove was caught by a robotic claw and it disappeared into a hole in the ceiling. The monster then circled around the first level of the ship to a chair with a little harness in it, setting the smeet in it and strapping him in it.

"There we are," Reep mused, satisfied when Eleven was safely tied down, "It even acts as a high-chair for when you need to bed fed," he snapped a little baby table against the chair, as if to mock Eleven.

The smeet glared back, not amused, "'m not an infant, 'm a smeet an' I HATE high-chairs!"

Eleven pulled off the snap-on baby table and chucked it at Reep who ducked and tsked him, "You should be more polite."

"You shouldn't kidnap people," the smeet snapped.

Reep chuckled and left the child to his own devices while he got the ship ready. Eleven tried to pull the harness off his person so he could slip out of the chair and escape, but the release button was on the back of the chair. If he wanted it that badly he would have to rip a few muscles.

The smeet decided he wanted it that badly.

Eleven growled and struggled, the chair hopping on its legs as he tried to reach the button behind him. He tried from all different ways, hoping that he would at least manage to scrape against it. But as Reep said before, he was only tiring himself out.

The smeet stopped his struggle to rest and whimpered, tears in his eyes. This wasn't anything like his dreams. When he was chased in there or caught, he knew he'd wake up, making it a kind of game the smeet knew he could never get hurt from. But this was too different and not something he enjoyed.

Eleven was about to give up when he realized the chair wasn't in the same spot Reep had left it. He had hopped almost to the counter of the kitchen area. In a last ditch effort, the smeet hopped the chair to the side then faced it backwards to the counter.

He could feel the engines of the ship starting up and he became frantic, nearly throwing the chair's back into the counter edge. The action was enough to slam into the button and release the harness's grip on the smeet.

Eleven jumped to the floor and scrambled to the door that led to the outside. It was closed, but he hit the 'open' button anyway, just to see if it worked. It did.

The smeet squealed and made to run out when he noticed they were at least twenty feet off the ground. He paused to assess what to do, then took in a deep breath when he had made his decision.

Eleven was sure the snap of his leg would be excruciating, but was also sure that he could limp away and then heal fast enough to get the running start, so to speak. That was his final thought as he took the plunge, jumping out of the ship and entering a brief moment of slow-mo.

The smeet had seen from movies how a slow-mo had worked. It was usually used to emphasize a particularly dramatic or comical scene in which everything was captured for a more detailed viewing for the person watching the piece.

This was nothing like the movies. Everything moved just as it did before, but just as Eleven was about to hit the ground, he knew what a true slow-mo was. He was simply hovering inches above the grass and could see it moving normally, but couldn't truly process why he was unable to touch it. Why he wasn't getting damp knees from the late night dew or why he had no broken limbs from his fall. All his senses had been dulled by his adrenaline-pumped break for freedom and it was at this moment when he felt a slight pain in his mid section.

Eleven looked down at his waist to see a PAK's spider-leg hooked securely around him. There was a shadow in the doorway above his head from where he had made his jump, one that should have been over a computer console.

The spider-leg slowly pulled the smeet away from the earth, and Eleven outstretched a hand, barely grazing a single blade of grass as he was hoisted back up.

Reep's PAK legs held Eleven in front of his face as he spoke, " … This was your first true attempt to get away from me on your own, and I'll commend that… but if you ever try to escape again, you will regret it," the smeet's eyes were down and he looked too defeated to respond, so the monster continued, "You fail to understand that you are mine now. I will not tolerate something of mine trying to undermine my final decision."

Reep turned, not even bothering to take Eleven into his own arms, and walked back into the ship. As the smeet was led in by the spider-leg carrying him, the doors of the ship closed, and this time they locked.

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**Forth up and it is late for me. So, goodnight for now. And I hope this chapter made you very angry at Reep. :33333**


	5. One Phone Call

**I know some people are confused as to why Reep is here so early. Well, that's because THAT'S HOW I WROTE IT AND I HAVE A LOT OF GROUND TO COVER BEFORE ANY OF IT HAS FULL MEANING. Be patient. This isn't the first story, it's the second. Most of the twists and 'HOLY CRAP, REALLY?'s were in the first one. So this one is just a little different…**

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ZiM had been a very bad PAK. His 'tiny' outburst had done more than enough damage to keep a cleaning crew at the scene of his rage for a little more than seven years. He regretted nothing about it… Well, maybe throwing Skoodge into one of the control brains was a bit much… And using Sizz Lorr's GIANT spatula to smack Tak into the TV screen was a bit harsh. But Tak deserved that. She had said ZiM was overreacting.

ZiM himself was waiting patiently in a holding cell on the Massive, pacing back and forth without the aid of a hologram; instead, the PAK had decided to use his robotic tentacles to maneuver about.

His ramblings on the whole situation were coherent for the most part. ZiM would hiss about how he was going to destroy Reep once and for all, then make himself and the smeet disappear completely. There would be no trace once he was through. The only incoherent moments were when the PAK would suddenly growl and roar loudly, punching at the cell walls, intent on breaking them down.

A soft knock at the entrance to the cellblock pulled ZiM from his thoughts and he scowled when Sizz Lorr walked in.

"Dare you come here to mock ZiM?" the PAK hissed.

Sizz Lorr shook his head and leaned nonchalantly on the doorway, "No. Just came in to see what you're doing to yourself."

ZiM reinstated his hologram to glare at the Irk before him, "Save your worthless breath, I was given this speech before."

Sizz Lorr nodded, "Then you know what you did before."

The hologram gripped against the bars holding him back, snarling, "Yes. I infiltrated a monster's filthy ship and _took_ my smeet _back_."

The bigger Irken scratched his chin, as though thinking over ZiM's answer.

The PAK grew impatient, "Instead, ZiM is _stuck_ here and is unable to save the smeet…"

Sizz Lorr smirked, then chuckled, "It seems this is enough of a revenge for me. It may not be twenty years, but it's a start."

ZiM's eyes widened, the lights in his optical orbs going pin-point, and he roared, the robotic tentacles zipping through the bars and latching onto Sizz Lorr's arms and throat, "How DARE you! You yourself fought beside ZiM to rid this universe of the parasite who stole ZiM's smeet! Why do you torment ZiM at the smeet's expense?"

The purple-eyed Irk just smirked, holding up a pass card, "Just wanted you to know that until the trial brains solidify their ruling, you're still a failure to this Empire."

The PAK stared at the card as Sizz Lorr swiped it against the lock and the bars were dropped.

ZiM dropped the larger Irk, growling, "Say what you will. But ZiM knows ZiM is the smeet's guardian no matter what others say."

The hologram walked past the chuckling Irk and out of the cellblock, presenting himself to a few guards standing at their posts out in the hallway. The guards gave him a wary look, some of them fidgeting uncomfortably under ZiM's gaze. ZiM locked onto one guard in particular, who whimpered, then screamed, dropping his staff and running down the hall.

The hologram smirked, and walked along, hearing Sizz Lorr's steps behind him.

ZiM growled, "You follow? Is ZiM not free to leave?"

The fry cook shook his head, "I was sent to have you moved to the command deck, not to let you leave. Your Voot had its engines taken out, too, so don't even think about it."

The hologram's form flickered, "Fine. Then ZiM will have to take yours."

Sizz Lorr growled back, "You're not leaving, ZiM."

"ZiM will leave," the hologram hissed, "when ZiM says."

The fry cook scoffed, seemingly ignoring the little PAK's threat, but kept a wary eye on him, getting ready to expect ZiM to run when it suited him. The little Irk was well known for his ability to escape.

More guards at the end of the hallway stood rigid and stiff when ZiM and Sizz Lorr approached them. They were watching the special elevator in case the PAK tried to run.

The hologram watched the guards, hoping to instill a fear in them as he had with the other guard, but Sizz Lorr nudged him, breaking his terrifying gaze and led him into the opening elevator.

"Come on, ZiM," he growled, "save your anger for the parasite."

ZiM nodded, for once feeling as though his outcries and pleas for retaliation were heard. He stepped into the elevator and was nudged into a corner by Sizz Lorr's girth.

The PAK grumbled and shut off its hologram, "Ever consider the personal space of others?"

Sizz Lorr growled, "Ever consider you suck?"

ZiM hissed, "ZiM resents that! ZiM is almighty and amazing and is caretaker of the precious smeet!"

"And yet," the fry cook mused, scratching his chin as the elevator's doors closed and started moving upwards, "you're stuck here in an elevator."

The PAK floated up to Sizz Lorr's face, "Because ZiM is being held prisoner!"

The purple-eyed Irk snagged ZiM in his giant hand and tossed him around a bit like a ball, "Just try to keep yourself calm, ZiM. We'll talk to the Tallests and then you'll get your one phone call."

The PAK allowed itself to be bounced around in the annoying fashion, "Phone call? Who would ZiM call with something so important as this?"

Sizz Lorr shrugged, still tossing the PAK around a bit and exited when the elevator stopped and the doors opened, "How should I know? I'm not exactly up on your personal life."

The PAK hovered away from the fry cook and reinstated its hologram, growling, "And yet, you know enough about ZiM to do hurt! Never bring Eleven up as the subject of revenge again or ZiM will harvest your organs!"

Sizz Lorr smirked, "I could care less about that."

"And then ZiM will put those organs into healthy people!"

The fry cook stopped in his tracks, eyes ablaze, "You wouldn't dare! These organs could be irreparably healed if put into a healthy Irken!"

ZiM sneered, "Yes, and with all the advances in our medicines, your organs will have lost all the crust and grimes from all that fast food."

Sizz Lorr hissed, his hands in giant, fury-shaken fists, "ZiM," he growled, "… you win… you win. I won't mention the smeet again."

The hologram nodded, "That's right you won't…" ZiM walked past the giant Irk, seeming intent upon walking into the doors before him that led into the command deck and where the Tallests would be, but he turned around as though remembering something, "Oh, and ZiM already has a part of your spooch tucked away as collateral."

The fry cook looked surprised, then snarled. With the way ZiM truly was, no one or their organs could be safe anymore. That PAK was one tough-

"Cookie!" shouted Tallest Purple as the doors opened, "I demanded a large, super deluxe, mega cookie with donuts instead of chocolate chips five minutes ago! Where is it?"

Tallest Red glared at his companion, "Well geez, they have to _bake_ it first, you know."

Purple whimpered, "Yeah, but I'm hungry now!" he crossed his arms, "They should've had it ready for me!"

Red was about to snap back, but was interrupted by a familiar shout, "And so you expect your crew to be mind reader? HA! With their intellectually lacking jobs and inability to even do the simplest things for themselves, I'm surprised you're even able to get your ship out of the atmosphere!" ZiM paused, "Or _maybe_ they're scared that they will potentially _die_ because _Reep_ has ZiM's _smeet_!"

The entire control room fell silent as ZiM and Sizz Lorr entered, the little hologram marching straight up to the Tallests, "Need ZiM have to remind you of the terrors that ensued the _LAST_ time?"

No one spoke. No one wanted to make ZiM even angrier.

The hologram scoffed, then turned back to Sizz Lorr, "My phone call?"

Sizz Lorr nodded and pointed at the screen, "It won't be private."

ZiM growled, "Right now? ZiM could care less…"

The hologram walked up to a console closest to the screen and dialed in a quick number. The face of a large-headed human popped up, but he wasn't looking at the screen. He was sitting on his couch, watching TV and eating a cone of ice cream.

ZiM cleared his throat loudly and the human looked up, "Whuh-? Hey ZiM! Why are you calling my house, this number is for emergencies and big foot spottings only. I don't think I gave you the number for ghosts. Did I give you my special secret number for ghost spottings, ZiM?"

The hologram continued to glare, "No, Dib. You didn't."

Dib took a lick at his ice cream, "Oh, well, it's actually really cool, because the numbers do the song of the 'Ghostbusters'. So it's-"

"Dib," ZiM interrupted with a sick smile on his face, "was there anything, oh… I don't know… important you were supposed to do for me while I was… away? You know, something… important that I left you to take care of?"

The human's eyes widened and he laughed nervously, "What? Pfft, of course! Yeah, I, uh, remembered _that_ I was…" he paused, "… watching Eleven! I was watching Eleven, sorry, we've been up all night because he was at my house for a sleep over and uh… we're tired," he said seriously, "very tired. We stayed up telling ghost stories and doing dares. So… he's in the bathroom right now, trying to wake up again, so-" Dib yelled out into the house, as though talking to the smeet, "E? Eleven? ZiM's on the phone, I think he wants to talk to you!"

"Stop talking to your imaginary friends, Dib!" came his sister's response from her room.

The human gulped and looked back at the screen, "Ahh… yeah, so… he's washing up again… You can't hear him, but I did…"

ZiM shook his head, "Oh, that's O.K. I already spoke with him."

Dib dropped his ice cream cone, "What? You did? Oh… geez, ZiM, I'm so sorry, I forgot, I swear. See, this 'Bigfoot's Real' marathon was on when you called to ask me, so I wasn't really listening, but I'll go over now and check on him for you."

The hologram shook his head again, "That won't be necessary. The smeet won't be there."

The human looked confused, "How could he not be home? He hates going out by himself!"

ZiM growled, "Probably because while you were watching TV, Eleven was being babysat by three incompetent Irken Elites, who let him get kidnapped by _Reep_, who was supposed to be in jail!"

Dib chewed on his fingers, "But… But… Reep not jailed no more? When did that happen? Where have I been?"

The hologram crossed his arms, "Believe me, Dib, I only found out when Reep took the smeet a few hours ago…"

The child slumped back in his couch, looking distraught, "Aww, man… ZiM… I'm so, so, sorry. I really am."

ZiM sighed, "There wasn't much you could've done anyway, Dib. I just wanted to let you know in case you suddenly remembered and found the base trashed."

Dib sat up straighter, "Want me to get Tak's ship and find GIR then meet you somewhere?"

The PAK nodded, "That would be a reasonable action. We'll talk later while ZiM figures a couple things out."

The Massive cut the feed and Dib jumped to his feet, "This is my chance to redeem myself! Eleven's in trouble and it's partially my fault! Gotta spring into action!"

He looked down at the puddle of melted ice cream and decided facing Gaz's wrath when he came back would be bad, "… After I clean this up, of course."

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**Fifth chapter and what do you want me to say? You won't see Reep or Eleven in the next one, though. But, DAMN, havin' Purple talk about a cookie THAT big and THAT awesome makes me want one! Also, if you're an artist and like Eclipse, check me out on deviantart. Penname is the same as the deviant name, _megadoomingir_. And I also love fan art. Send me a link, and I'll be sure to talk to you. I'll make it a priority.**


	6. Green Puddings

**More questions? I have the answers! … Maybe… and only if it applies to this story. Caz, Zac and Shadow are NOT babysitting because the Tallests sent MORTAL IRKEN ELITES and they have GODLY STUFF TO DO. Plus, Shadow might have tried to eat the guards and that would have been bad… So, I hope that clears up a few things. That and if you haven't read the first Eclipse, DO SO. I WILL keep reminding you because that has all of the beginning stuff!**

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GIR had the base all to himself. This was a rare occasion. He had to celebrate. Unfortunately, he had stumbled upon an old running of 'BraveHeart' while watching TV and had been bombarded by the Scotts fighting the Brits. And GIR did like the color blue…

Needless to say, GIR had massed together his army of gerbils and hamsters down in the lower base after having watched the movie, confused as to why the little puddles of burnt green pudding hadn't enjoyed the movie with him. But now, the little robot had to ban his vermin soldiers together for a fight against the green puddles, for making GIR sad when they did not talk back to him.

The little robot was mounted upon his rabbit, riding in front of the 'soldiers', inspecting them. On top of having got into Eleven's special stash of finger paints, to be used on _very_ special occasions, GIR had also rustled through ZiM favorite guns and had ducked-taped most of the weapons onto his army. The smaller lasers had maybe two or three rodents attached, while the larger weapons requiring maybe a PAK to keep it steady were covered in a moving, furry coat of squeaking vermin. None of the hamsters or gerbils could move very well due to the weight.

GIR rode in front of his laser-mounted hamster-gerbil army, a ladle and pot pan as his choice of weapons, "Today, good furry squeakings, I was made sad by green pudding. The green pudding did nah like the movie on the TV an' so the green pudding must be vacuumed and sautéed in a Chinese plum sauce."

A flurry of squeaks responded in unison, so the little robot continued, "The Chinese plum sauce will be made bitter, cause the green pudding don't deserve a nice sauce, an' they will be given stale cheesy-breads from five weeks ago, that still be hidin' under Master ZiM's bed where I done hid it so Master ZiM would never find it."

Another roar of squeaks resounded throughout the army.

GIR nodded, "Some of us won't make it… Others will tell the story of the night green pudding was tracked in the house like cats in a knapsack."

The final roar of squeaks that GIR was met with sealed the deal. The army was pumped and ready for action, so he pointed his rodents towards the elevator.

"For the knapsaaaaack!" GIR hollered, his rabbit hopping tiredly to the elevator doors.

The rest of the vermin did their best to follow, most barely able to drag themselves a few feet before they were too tired to move. Most of the army managed to cram themselves into the little elevator along with their leader, lasers and all.

When the doors of the elevator finally closed, GIR settled down, waiting for the computers to take them to the house floor. The little robot's favorite song was playing on the elevator radio and he started humming along to it. Some of the other hamsters and gerbils found it a catchy tune and so squeaked along with their leader. This helped to build their moral and soon, the entire elevator was filled with happily squeak-humming rodents and one robot.

The doors once again opened, this time to present GIR and his vermin army to the house floor, where the rodents 'ran' out first and the little robot pointed his ladle menacingly at the three piles of green pudding out in the living room, "Attack! For the knapsack!"

Laser fire suddenly burned through holes in the walls and ceiling, coming from the rodent's duct tape-mounted guns. Their aim was less than deplorable. But GIR could live with that. He thought it was the best distraction his army could give while he made the final blows on these evil piles of green pudding.

GIR leapt from his rabbit, which quickly realized it was no longer carrying the weight of its master and passed out on the floor, and smacked his ladle on one of the piles. The little robot looked angry when his weapon suddenly became caught in the goop and struggled to pull it out as best as he could.

Triumph over took GIR when he was rewarded with the freedom to wave the ladle once more… and when he also pulled out a strange looking stick from the pile. The little robot took the stick, which was stick covered in green pudding, and examined it. The stick was blessed with three pointies at the top, one smaller than the other two, and it was long, so smacking people with it from a distance was a bonus. That and it appeared that the stick was made up of a bunch of stick combined! … This had to be the green pudding's weapon of choice!

GIR gasped, eyes red, "AHA! You are now defenseless! Prepare, green goo, for the pain unleashed will hurt longer than just two days!" and the robot proceeded to smack the green pudding pile with its own weapon.

Seeing as the door was wide open and it looked like GIR had already started to cause mayhem without someone to keep him in check, Dib just walked right in, ducking laser fire that just happened to fly towards him and being careful not to crush and hamsters or gerbils.

"GIR?" he called out over the battle, "Hey, GIR, it's Dib, ZiM told me to come and get you!"

GIR stopped smacking the green pudding and looked over at Dib, "Civilian!" he pounced onto Dib's face, landing the human onto the floor as the robot stood on top of his head, protecting him, "Fear not! My army will have you safely transported! I hope you like tomatoes!"

Dib let out a displeased whine and tried to get up, "GIR, not now! Let me up, this is crazy as usual!"

GIR suddenly started giggling in a craze and proceeded to smack the closest green pudding pile with the other pile's weapon of choice. Dib stared at the stick and screamed, yanking it from the little robot's hold and tossing it into the kitchen.

GIR looked sad as he watched it fly away from him, "Aww, why you make it go all sad into there?"

The human scooped GIR up, shaking as he realized what he had just touched, and took the ladle and pot pan from him, "It, ahh… had a dinner date with the queen of sprinkles, GIR. It was very late for it, too."

The little robot nodded, for this seemed reasonable, "That is true. It did need to leave at a good time."

"Now GIR," Dib continued, "I need you to end what you're doing here, all right? We need to go out and have a little fun and see ZiM. Is this O.K.? Can you stop what you're doing so we can leave and have awesome fun, GIR?"

GIR gave Dib a big nod, "Yes! For the battle has been won! No longer is the pain of sadness within my poor, little lentil soup can!"

The little robot screamed briefly and the hamsters and gerbils stopped moving, attention on him.

He spoke with fervor, "Friends, family, friends of family and the hamster known as Steve… we have won the battle! The war will never come against the green puddings and tonight… we dine…" he pointed to where Dib threw the stick, "IN THE KITCHEEEEEN!"

The vermin army squeaked excitedly and hurried into the kitchen, nibbling everything within sight. GIR would have joined him, but Dib quickly offered him the alternative of a piggyback ride, which the little robot accepted. Their first stop would be Dib's house, so that they could take Tak's ship and meet the Massive at a later period of time. The human walked quickly from the house and didn't look back, still trying to get over the feeling of what he had taken away from GIR.

Because the 'stick' GIR had been holding hadn't been a stick, it was an arm. And the 'green pudding piles' he had raged war on weren't green pudding piles. They had been the three Elites guarding the smeet.

Dib bit his lip nervously. He wasn't given details on what Reep had done to get the smeet from them, but he had never seen Irken weaponry melt flesh to such a degree in his whole time studying ZiM. Dib could only hope that when he helped ZiM face Reep, he wasn't given the same treatment the three Elites were given.

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***is tired* … *knows it is late* … … … *needs to get to bed* … *for some reason the cat is hiding under the bed and his breathing sounds like a strained squeak of cuteness which is creepy at this time of night* … *wants you to R&R* ^^**


	7. Monster vs Demon

**Aww, has it been a while? Have you guys been sad? Did some of you go into remission when I didn't post immediately? … If you answered 'yes' to any of these, seek treatment from Dr. Felm. XDDDDD**

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Reep rubbed his antennae and growled softly in annoyance. It had only been a couple of hours since he had kidnapped _his_ smeet, but the little Irk had refused to stop screaming. Eleven's wail pierced the air and even sent a shiver throughout the ship, who had turned off its audio recognizer only a few minutes after it realized the smeet was not going to stop.

Reep sighed heavily, trying to get the child's attention, and maybe even quiet him down a little, but it was all for naught as he quickly realized that this action made Eleven shriek louder. The smeet was currently harnessed back into the highchair, but the chair itself had then been welded _and_ bolted into the floor after Eleven's little escapade. And to top it all off, Reep was trying to feed him.

"You know this'll," Reep growled, trying to raise his voice over the screaming, "You know this'll only prolong what I'm trying to accomplish! You're going to be fed, one way or another!"

Eleven simply continued his screaming. He was getting tired, but he wasn't ready to give up yet. The smeet wanted Reep in as much pain and discomfort he was in.

The monster snarled and shoved a spoonful of food in Eleven's openly screaming mouth. Reep smirked when the smeet gagged and spit the food out. At least the screaming had stopped.

"Now that you've stopped screaming," the monster pursed his lips, readying another spoonful of the food, "how about you allow yourself some nourishment?"

Eleven growled, wiping his mouth on the bib Reep forced him to wear, "No! That's _baby_ food! 'm not a baby!"

The monster presented another spoonful to the smeet, "Well, you could have fooled me. Now say 'ahh', nicely, mind you, and we'll be done with this in a few minutes."

Eleven shoved the spoon away, fighting against Reep to keep it back, "No! 'm not a baby an' baby food tastes NASTY!"

He screamed the last word, starting up on a new round of shrieking to anger his captor. Hopefully, Reep would give up and leave again, maybe even let him out to take a nap or something. Anything other than being force-fed baby food would've been better.

Eleven noticed the monster just waiting around for the screaming to stop, so the smeet tore off his bib and threw it at him, slamming tiny, angry fists into the highchair's tabletop. At this rate, he would be exhausted and with a headache in no time.

Reep seemed to take mercy upon the smeet when he finally sighed and unlatched the back of the harness. Eleven's screaming had turned into a wailing cry and the monster lifted the tired, crying smeet from the chair, coddling and hushing him in a sweet manner. This scared Eleven.

"Hush, my little smeet," Reep murmured, "hush, you're safe. I'm keeping you safe. There's nothing to fear."

Eleven's wailing didn't stop, the fear within him rising. There was much to fear, starting with the monster holding the smeet captive.

Reep smiled, thinking his tactic to be working when Eleven paused a moment to get a little breath, "That's it. Calm down. You've nothing to be afraid of, my little smeet. We're going to help each other, you know. And once this mess is all fixed, I'll protect you, and care for you, and raise you…"

Eleven's breathing suddenly hitched and his eyes grew wide. The light blue orbs surrounded by the darker blue became pinpoint and the smeet hissed, baring his fangs. He shrieked in anger, thrashing about, and sunk his teeth into Reep's arm, snarling and tearing as he dug his claws in. The monster let out a surprised yell and tried to yank the angered smeet from his limb, but Eleven was stuck fast.

Reep stumbled out of the little kitchen area and nearly tripped over the bed that was in the immediate area. Falling back on it, the monster reached a foot up and peeled the smeet off with his heel. Eleven fell to the floor with a loud thump and snarled, diving under the bed.

Reep growled and took a look at his arm. He was bleeding profusely, the teeth having severed through muscle and veins. The monster peered closer and saw that the smeet had grazed the bone. And he hadn't even been trying.

Reep scowled at the wound, but smirked when the tissues closed and the bleeding stopped. Granted, now that the wound was healed he'd have to fix or replace the shirt he was wearing, but that could wait.

The monster's purple eyes glistened and he spoke calmly, "Smeet? Smeet, where are you?"

There was silence.

"Smeet," Reep began again, but then he stopped, "… Eleven?"

He was rewarded with a _very_ un-smeet-like hiss from under the bed, then a loud shrieking roar. Reep sat straight up and made sure to pull his feet up on the bed before peeking over the side.

"… Eleven?"

Another alien-like shriek.

Reep took in a breath and slowly set a foot down. Eleven's little smeet claws latched on and his little teeth sunk in, biting right through the material of the boot and into the monster's foot. Reep let out a yell and he lurched back, pulling his foot back up.

The smeet cackled from under the bed and scurried in further, growling and snarling as he made himself comfortable.

Reep breathed heavy as he waited for the pain to stop and heal over. This boot was also ruined. The monster growled and settled himself better on the bed, pulling both boots off and peeking over the side again. He heard an annoyed, gruff-sounding huff rumble from under the bed and then a flurry of dust was pushed out from under it. With each wave of dust came the huff. Eleven was cleaning out his new abode.

Reep growled softly to himself and held the boots out over the edge, "Eleven," the shriek followed the name, and the monster sighed, "you must stop this. It is foolish and it is late," he smirked to himself, "I know you're very tired."

The smeet answered back with a cough and Reep held the boots out a little farther. He waited a moment, then dropped the boots. Eleven shot out from under the bed, snatching both boots and tearing into them mercilessly, growling and shrieking as he bunny-kicked and decimated the boots.

He rolled around for a moment, getting dust on his clothes, then tossed the discarded shoes across the room and dove under the bed again. Reep was stunned. His little smeet had become a demon.

Eleven growled angrily and shoved the last of the dust out from under the bed. It wasn't too low of a bed, so he had a lot of room to move about and this was to be useful if he was going to make it his new base. Rule number one, as ZiM had told him, was to establish a base of operations when in foreign territory.

The smeet heard Reep shuffle around again and he shivered. He didn't want to be raised by a monster and if he had to act like a demon to prevent it, he was fully ready to do so. Eleven whined softly to himself and shivered again, now cold in his new 'base' and spotted part of a large comforter hanging over the bed.

Reep was trying to assess the best way to get off the bed without getting bitten when he felt a slight tug on the comforter he was sitting on. There was another small tug, then the comforter was ripped out from under him and the monster fell to the floor with a pained yelp, rolling to the side with a growl.

The comforter was pulled under the bed and the smeet let out another cackle. He inspected his prize, then squealed happily, wrapping himself in the comforter, and laying it out a bit like a nest. Eleven nuzzled into the giant blanket and let out a mew, nestling down.

Reep growled again and peeked under the bed, watching his smeet settle down for the night. A sneer crossed the monster's face and he crept slowly and quietly as he could under the bed to the smeet. His face was mere inches away from the smeet's back when Eleven suddenly whipped around and slashed Reep across the face.

The monster let out a roar and tried to retreat, hitting his head roughly on the ceiling of the smeet's new 'base'.

"Get out!" Eleven shrieked, "Get out, get out, get away from me!"

Reep snarled and pushed himself out from under the bed, leaving the smeet to nod in satisfaction and go back to his current task of taking a nap. The monster watched Eleven, hissing quietly as his face healed, and waited for the little demon to fall asleep.

_sssssssssss_

A couple hours later, Reep woke with a small start. He was still lying on the floor facing the underside of the bed. His smeet was now fast asleep, curled up like a kitten in his prized comforter. The monster sneered and crawled to Eleven, wrapping the smeet and comforter in his arms and carefully pulling them from the safety of under the bed.

Eleven whined softly, curling in a little more, then relaxed letting out soft little breaths.

Reep chuckled deeply, "Even demon smeets need their rest…"

The little Irk didn't respond and the monster simply stood, setting the bundle of smeet and blanket on the bed. Reep carefully got onto the bed slipped over to the other side, laying down and hugging the bundle close. Eleven whined again, but didn't stir.

The monster stroked the smeet's cheek, "You don't seem to realize, my little Eleven, that you are mine now. No matter what you do or how you act, you will become what I want you to become."

Eleven shivered in his sleep and moved away from the contact, but Reep held him close, "I can see you hide your true potential, but it won't matter once I've finished what was started," the monster nuzzled the top of the smeet's head, "I'll have the gifts that rightfully belong to me and then I'll keep you as my apprentice," he chuckled deep again, "You'll be my little smeet forever, my little Eleven…"

___sssssssssss_

**Geez, Reep. Possessive much? I think Reep needs an a$$ whoopin'! And don't worry, he will. But much later. R&R… Just humor me.**


	8. Baby Gates

***insert dramatic music here* Look! On this page! It's a sparrow! It's a jet! NOPE! You're all STUPID and need to have your eyes checked! XDDDDD**

_sssssssssss_

ZiM was pulled from the bickering of his Tallests with a slight shake from his former Fry Lord. Sizz Lorr looked down at the little hologram with something resembling sympathy, as the both of them, and everyone on the command deck, had been listening to the two of them squabble since ZiM had cut the feed off with Dib. Maybe… six hours? Too long for comfort.

ZiM growled softly, knowing that the argument was going to be fruitless and even listening to it was making him more and more psychotic. They were discussing the whereabouts of the smeet and where Reep might go. The name made ZiM's hardware spark angrily.

The Tallests suddenly turned to the little PAK, both intent on making him choose a side.

"Well?" yelled Purple, "Who's right?"

ZiM blinked, taken aback, "Uh, w-what now? Kinda zoned out after the first half hour."

Red threw up his arms, "Well, _I_ think that Reep's going straight to that weird temple place where he tried to hurt the smeet the last time."

The hologram mulled the thought over, "True, finish what he started and all that horrible nonsense…"

"BUT," Purple interrupted, "he could be a little smarter than that and actually try something else! He's conniving, you know!"

ZiM growled, rolling his eyes and head to the side, "And I'm supposed to…?"

Red scratched an antenna, "You could pick who's right and stuff."

Sizz Lorr grumbled down to the little hologram a warning, "But that would also mean you'd be tickin' one of 'em off."

ZiM clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth in disappointment, "Yep and wouldn't _that_ be a shame?"

The Fry Lord chuckled deeply, smacking ZiM on the back roughly, who fell to the floor and got back up with a grumble. The PAK waved everyone off and stomped from the room, Sizz Lorr's laugh and the Tallests' hovering forms trailing after him.

"Hey… hey," Purple prodded, "hey, wait you're supposed to agree with one of us!"

Red poked the little hologram in the side, "Yeah, the smart one would be in your best interest."

Purple glared at his co-Tallest, "_I'M_ the smart one!"

"No," Red jibed, "_I'M_ the smart _and_ the hot one."

ZiM did his best to ignore the two and entered an elevator, hoping they would wander off somewhere and bicker about who was the better Tallest without his input. They followed ZiM like mosquitoes following a host. The made the PAK very angry, but he pressed a random button on the elevator console.

"_Going down_," murmured the computer, "_destination: kitchen and foods._"

The Tallests stopped their quarrel for a moment to 'ooo' the level ZiM had chosen.

ZiM face-palmed himself in the face angrily, "Leave it to me to pick the level with… _ffffffOOD_ on it," he looked up at the Tallests, "and with you two with me, no less."

Purple whimpered, "Yeah, getting some food might actually help settle this dispute and show who's smarter and more hot than the other."

Red laughed and shoved his friend playfully, "Sure, it could, because only a loser wouldn't see that I'm both a hundred times more than you are without food."

The hologram listened to the banter go back and forth for a minute before drowning it out with the thought of making Reep scream for mercy. Not just beg for it, _scream_ for it. When ZiM's eyes opened again they had a fiery tint to them and were narrowed in an icy-hot glare at his unseen daydream.

The PAK was pulled from these amazingly tender and soothing thoughts when one of the Tallests bumped into him. The two were now in a catfight, scratching at each other with such unmanly fervor that ZiM could only raise a 'brow' at them in sickened amusement.

"… Well," the hologram muttered, "… this is very… ahh… I-I suppose it's um…"

Without finishing the thought, ZiM chuckled and shook his head, "You two are such smeets."

Red and Purple stopped their quarrel to glare at ZiM.

Red growled, "Well, if you would just pick me as the better Tallest-"

"Nuh uh!" Purple protested, shoving Red back, "He'll pick me! I was the one wanted to banish him in the first place which also gave him and the smeet a place to hide!"

ZiM whistled, smirking, "I don't know, my Tallest, that sounded pretty smart."

"That's not true!" yelled Red, "_I_ was the one who said 'I'll handle this' and then pointed ZiM to the planet!"

"But you wouldn't have had anything if _I_ hadn't put that post-it-note there!"

"That wasn't your post-it-note, that was the janitor's!"

"You just HAD to bring that up, didn't you?"

ZiM would have been more enthusiastic and delighted to watch the Tallests go back and forth with their meaningless tiff if he weren't so upset at the smeet's kidnapping and absence. It was nice that they were fighting at all, seeing as it was like a bad soap opera and both were complete morons. But the PAK needed some real alone time to think and plan out his next move. As fun and entertaining as the fight was, ZiM needed a real plan to find and get his smeet back.

The elevator doors opened with a ding and the smell of all kinds of foods wafted in. The hologram ignored it, knowing he had no use for the stuff, but the Tallests stopped their squabble, renewed with the smells of things that needed to be eaten.

"Hey," Purple started up again as ZiM walked out of the elevator, "hey, wait, you're supposed to pick a side now."

The two followed after him, Red poking at the little hologram, "Yeah, we've made our arguments, now you're supposed to pick."

ZiM wished to skin himself if he had skin in order to escape this torment. He came to a small gate, which separated the rest of the hallway from him.

Sizz Lorr was on the other side, "I was expecting you," he said gruffly as he opened the little gate for ZiM.

The PAK looked confused, but shrugged and walked in. The Tallests tried to follow, but Sizz Lorr stopped them.

"Sorry, my Tallests," the Fry Lord growled, "but this area is for staff only. ZiM's PAK is still encoded as a service drone, so he's allowed."

Sizz Lorr closed the little gate and walked behind ZiM. The Tallests pouted and hovered back and forth, trying to figure out how to get past the gate.

"Hey… hey wait, get back here," Purple said in frustration.

But ZiM and the Fry Lord had already left the two to whine and complain by themselves.

Sizz Lorr led the hologram to a large kitchen and offered him a seat on a tall bar stool, "Troubles?"

ZiM scoffed, sitting at a tall-standing counter, "My problems are the universe's problems right now. Since when could you care?"

The chef shrugged, taking out baking sheets already covered in dough and shoving them in an oven, "Personally, I wouldn't mind popping your sorry PAK in here with these cakes and such, but you're a lot stronger than previously thought."

"Yeah," ZiM muttered, "you might end up in there yourself."

Sizz Lorr growled, shutting the oven doors, "That and if I killed you, the Tallests would have to find a new guardian for the smeet."

The Fry Lord leaned back on the counter, watching the oven cook the innocence out of the cakes, "It's not a problem I'd like to face at the moment."

ZiM had to agree with him on that point, then scratched his head, "How did you get down here before me?"

Sizz Lorr shrugged, "Special elevator. Takes cooks straight down to the kitchens."

"Ahh," the hologram said, picking at the counter a bit, "… and the baby gate?"

The Fry Lord chuckled, "One of the Tallests' many weaknesses. Seems they can't invade the kitchen with a baby gate up."

ZiM tapped his holographic chin, "They don't just… hover over it?"

Sizz Lorr smirked, "Hasn't even crossed their minds."

"Huh," the PAK grunted.

ZiM sighed and let his face smack into the counter. Sizz Lorr glanced over slightly, a little more interested in the oven than the other Irk.

"… And these two are supposed to be the help ZiM gets? We're all going to die…"

The Fry Lord patted the PAK on the back, rather roughly, but enough to get the point across, "I wouldn't worry too much about it. That's why the thinking is left up to control brains," ZiM glared up at Sizz Lorr and the chef sighed, "which aren't too smart, either, but it's better than those two for a situation like this."

The hologram propped himself up on an arm, "With our luck, Reep will take what he wants from the smeet and decide not to destroy us."

"With our luck," Sizz Lorr mused, "he'll put us out of our misery and exempt us from his reign of terror."

ZiM chuckled in exhausted anger, "Wouldn't that be special?" he sighed, sitting up straighter, "But… what if…"

The Fry Lord looked down at him, "What if…?"

The PAK's gears started churning, thinking up a plan, "Well… we know that Reep's intent on taking the smeet's powers, wanting to use them for full domination of the Irken Empire and such."

Sizz Lorr reached across the counter and picked up a breadstick, chewing on it thoughtfully, "True, true, diabolical and stuff."

"But," ZiM continued, "a blockade could buy us some time to find and apprehend him. Surround that stupid little planet with every ship the armada has and prevent him from getting in there. If we don't pressure him or chase him, Reep will go straight to his destination and not realize the blockade is there waiting for him."

The chef smirked, "That actually sounds like a good idea. That little planet… Clavicle or whatever-"

"Clavictoo," ZiM corrected him.

"… Clavictoo," Sizz Lorr mimicked, "won't be too hard to guard. It's small and there's only one spot on the entire thing that actually has any worth."

The hologram nodded, "Exactly! … The only problem is the man power."

Sizz Lorr sat up a little straighter, "Where's the problem in that?"

ZiM sighed heavily, "If we keep all of the armada on Clavictoo, which would be the best thing, we'll need another group to go out and take out anyone who would try to help or support Reep."

The Fry Lord and the PAK stayed silent for a few minutes, not wanting to state the obvious. There was only one other group who would willingly assist the Irken Empire at the mere mention of both 'Eleven' and 'Reep' in the same sentence.

Sizz Lorr sighed, "The Tallests won't like this."

"ZiM knows that," the hologram grumbled, "but what other options do we have? ZiM would rather live than have nothing. Setting aside what we can to fix this problem will be the hardest part."

_sssssssssss_

A few minutes later, the Tallests reluctantly hailed a frequency they thought they'd never use again. It rang a few times before a Vortian suddenly picked up, looking a bit peeved.

"Who dares?" started the Vortian, adjusting his goggles, "Don't you know you're calling… the RESISTY?"

_sssssssssss_

… **I really have to eat now… Like, now.**


	9. I Have Juice

**Tired, I be, but I write this because I have the will to! … But just barely, because I be tired.**

sssssssssssss

Eleven woke with a whine and a small sob. He didn't open his eyes immediately, almost too afraid of what he would see, but his antennae did perk and he heard the faint 'pop' of a toaster. The smeet's little blue orbs opened, irritated by a bright light coming from the kitchen, and he smelled toast, realizing how hungry he was when he felt his spooch growl softly.

Reep was too busy to notice Eleven wake, setting two new pieces of toast in a pile on a plate.

The smeet struggled and pulled against the comforter he had been wrapped in, growling to himself and mumbling as he tried to escape. He finally freed a tiny hand and moved to get the rest of himself out of his little cocoon. Once his little form was able to remove the rest of the comforter, one of Eleven's little hands took hold of it, pulling it down as he slid off the bed.

The little Irk's feet touched the floor and he crouched low, holding the blanket close before shoving it under the bed as he had done the night before. Eleven then got on his knees and crawled to the kitchen, trying to stay alert even though he had just woken up. The smeet watched carefully as Reep crossed the kitchen, crouching close to the floor to seem invisible, then scurried over to the counter, when the monster had its back turned.

Eleven stood and reached up, taking a piece of toast and quickly eating it before Reep could see him. The purple-eyed Irk set another pair of toast on the pile, looking at it strangely when it seemed a little shorter, then shrugged it off, going back to making breakfast. The smeet came out from his hiding place and took another slice, eating it in his hiding place behind the island in the kitchen.

After a moment, Eleven nodded in satisfaction and peered around the corner of the island, seeing where Reep was at the moment. After the Irk set another pair of toast on the tower of over baked bread slices, the smeet quickly ran up to the plate and took it back to his lair under the bed.

Reep yawned and went to take a piece of toast for himself but found the pile he had been working on had disappeared. The monster blinked and scratched his head, looking around for what he had been working on for the last fifteen minutes.

The sound of soft crunching reached his antennae and Reep turned to look at the bed from where he stood. A soft coo followed another crunch and the monster sneered, stalking over to the smeet's base.

Eleven had already finished three pieces of toast under the bed and was working on his fourth, not noticing Reep scoot up behind him. The monster smirked to himself and snuck a piece of toast from the smeet's acquired tower, waiting until the smeet had finished to take a large, loud bite from the piece he had taken.

The smeet spun around, eyes wide with fright, and he whimpered.

Reep chuckled, swallowing, "Good morning, smee-"

Eleven shrieked and scratched the monster across the cheek, screaming, "Get out! Get away from me! Gimme back my toast!" the smeet scratched him again and took back the toast Reep had taken.

The monster yelped and roared, backing away from the smeet, then snarled and grabbed Eleven by the back of his shirt, taking him out with him. The smeet screamed again and tried to scramble away from Reep, but was unable to latch onto anything and was pulled out kicking and squealing in fear.

The monster sneered, the scratches on his face healing and tried to coddle Eleven, hushing him in an annoyed tone, "_Hush_ now, smeet. You're in _my_ care now," his voice grew angrier and deeper when the little Irk squeaked in terror and tried to wiggle away, "You _will_ calm yourself and you _will_ behave. Do you understand?"

The smeet whimpered and curled into a ball to protect himself.

Reep shook Eleven lightly and the little Irk whimpered again, shaken out of his protective ball. The monster smiled at his work and held the smeet close, carrying him into the kitchen.

"Are you going to behave now, smeet?" Reep asked as he neared the dreaded highchair.

Eleven suddenly growled and struggled against his captor, "No! No, I don' _wanna_ go in dah highchair again!" the smeet let out a high-pitched scream for good measure.

The monster hissed then smiled as though hiding a secret, "All right, all right… calm down, I won't put you back in the chair if you do something for me."

Eleven tensed up. On one hand, he'd be doing something for Reep but on the other, he'd be free of that awful chair.

The smeet hummed softly and the monster made his proposition, "If I let you destroy the highchair so you never have to sit in it again, you have to promise to be a very good little smeet and do whatever I tell you to do. What do you say?"

Eleven thought about it for a minute, scared to what either decision meant for him, so he crossed his arms and hid one of his little hands from the monster so he wouldn't see his little fingers cross; the smeet crossed his toes for good measure, "Well… um…" he paused and Reep gently rubbed his back to calm him down, "o'tay, I'll do it, but that doesn' mean that I'll do it with happies on m' face…"

The monster smiled and sat the smeet up on the island counter so he could overlook the kitchen, "Are you still hungry or did you fill up on toast?"

Eleven watched Reep carefully, "'m full an' I'll eat later…"

"Are you sure?" the older Irk mused, "I can make you something. I'm not Foodcourtia worthy, but I'm still capable of using a microwave or using the stove."

The smeet shook his head, "No, I don' wanna eat anymore an' 'm thirsty."

Eleven hopped down from the counter and over to the fridge before Reep could stop him, opening the refrigerator and taking out a carton of juice as big as he was. The smeet dragged the carton out of the kitchen and back under the bed all while be watched curiously by the monster.

Reep smirked and followed after Eleven sitting on the bed as he heard the smeet coo happily now that he had toast and juice under the bed, "Smeet?" he called, "What are you doing?"

"I has juice!" came the response, "I has juuuuuuice!"

The monster nodded, more to himself, "Yes, you do. But do you have a cup?"

There was a pause, then, "I don' _need_ one. I has juice."

Reep chuckled at the smeet's limited response. He didn't really care about the juice but the excitement Eleven was experiencing having the juice. It was rather adorable.

"And," the monster continued, "how are you going to drink your juice?"

There was another long pause, then a soft scuffling sound. The smeet darted from under the bed and back to the kitchen. Reep watched as the smeet climbed up onto the counter and searched the cupboards. When Eleven found a straw, he jumped down from the counter top with a 'pat' and dove back under the bed, squealing excitedly as he used the straw to drink from the carton of juice.

The monster 'hmm'ed as he watched, intrigued by the smeet's strange behavior. It was making him feel excited about the juice too.

Reep paused, thinking hard. Why would HE be excited about juice? The fact that he was made him angry. Now he wanted nothing more than to make Eleven sad to balance his issues.

The monster growled, "Smeet, come out from under the bed now."

There was a pause, "… But I has juice."

Reep hissed, getting down on the floor to peek under the bed, "I don't care. Come out or I'll make you."

Eleven huffed and sighed, "… Mmmm… no."

The monster snarled and threw a hand under the bed, trying to grab at anything alive and smeet-like, "I'll give you until the count of ONE, smeet!"

The smeet squealed and swatted the claw coming after him away, "No! Go 'way! I has JUUUUUUUICE!"

Reep suddenly lifted the bed up and tossed it away, crashing it into the couch on the other side of the room. Eleven looked up, clutching the juice carton tightly. Reep looked nothing as he had before. His anger was a boiling pit of something evil as he glared down at the smeet, his purple eyes near black with hate.

Eleven couldn't move as he stared at those angry eyes. He'd never seen someone so angry before.

The older Irk snatched up the smeet, who squealed and dropped his juice, then held him by the back of the collar. Eleven screamed and tried to scratch at his captor, fear surrounding his very being.

Reep sneered and brought the smeet closer, but as he did so, he felt the anger start to subside. It was the strangest, most relaxing feeling he'd had in a long while. The monster looked confused, his hand lowering the smeet a little, and the anger started up again. This time, Reep was sure he was going to choke the life out of the little demon trying to claw his way out of his grasp but as the smeet got closer, the anger left him again.

The monster growled and made his way over to the couch, stepping over the fallen bed to sit down. He set the smeet in his lap and simply held him there like a cat. The anger inside him quelled and calmed, completely gone. Eleven whimpered, crying quietly, but Reep just stroked his head and neck, ignoring the smeet's whine to get away.

Something inside the monster began to purr in content at how close the smeet was. It was soothing and peaceful. What scared Reep was he didn't know whether this was a normal reaction to the smeet's power or if this was his own feelings. It didn't feel like it was his own feelings, but something inside him was very pleased to have the little Irken's presence so close.

After a few moments, Reep's hand laxed and Eleven stiffened a little. When he realized the monster wasn't moving, the smeet scurried from his lap and ran to the kitchen, diving into a cupboard to cry. Reep didn't move. He stayed as still as he could, feeling whatever was inside him grow angry again, but he beat it back down and huffed, finally standing to stretch.

The monster observed the mess he had made and shrugged, immune to the view of the carnage.

He called out for Eleven instead, "Smeet? … Smeet, come here now."

The little Irk whimpered and sobbed, "No! Stay 'way!"

Reep pushed no further. He simply sat back down on the couch, gently kicking at the mangled bed and leaned back. The feeling inside him suddenly grew mournful instead of angry, a switch from being so far away from the smeet. The monster growled softly and patted at his chest roughly, the feeling inside him growing quieter and quieter until it decided to stay silent. Then Reep perked and kept his antennae held high so he could listen to the smeet cry silently.

sssssssssssss

**Crazy Reep go crazy. Or…**


	10. The Duties of a Tallest

**Right… Breathe…**

ssssssssss

ZiM growled as he watched the Tallests continue 'negotiations' with the Resisty. So far, it had been bargained that if the Resisty would take part in helping the Armada eliminate any potential persons trying to help Reep, the Tallests were willing to give them fifteen marbles and seven rubber bands. The Resisty were about to agree when their leader, Lard-Nar, had shrieked that that wasn't good enough. The Tallests shrugged and agreed to add on four packs of gum.

ZiM nearly roared in anger but settled for stomping his feet lightly against a computer console. This couldn't last much longer as Lard-Nar looked like he was about to pop a blood vessel.

"Look," Red started, "you and your little band of… thingies are pretty pathetic, and with all those marbles and sticks of gum you could have fun for a long time."

"About two seconds," mumbled ZiM.

Purple nodded, "And the rubber bands are great for snapping against a sleeping jerk's arms."

"Yeah! They're-" Red stopped, taking a look on the sides of his arms, "wait, what?"

Purple's face grew darker green, "Well… you deserved it!"

"MY ARMS WERE SORE FOR WEEKS!"

"CAUSE I DID IT MORE THAN ONCE!"

The Resisty watched in horrified amusement because while what they were watching was quite funny, they were still all in great danger.

ZiM slowly walked up to the screen, giving a little cough, "You help us, the Massive will give you a three month head start to run. That's three months to do whatever you want."

Lard-Nar scratched his chin in thought, leaning back into his chair, "That's more like it… But we still want the gum and marbles!"

There was a cheer behind him and someone called out, "I want the rubber bands!"

ZiM nodded, "Yes, yes, it will all be fulfilled, but you must keep your end of the bargain and keep that horrible worm pig of a creature from receiving any help from allies."

Lard-Nar waved his hand, "Fear not! The Resisty has many connections!"

There was a buzzing among Lard-Nar's troops, "Like Steve in the Massive's engine room!" "And Quiler on Food Courtia!" "And the guy who brings drinks to the Tallests' quarters, what'shisname?"

The Resisty leader looked back at the lot of them in horror, "Shut up! Quiet you! Are you all born and built as idiots or did it rub off from Spleenk?"

Everyone fell silent before pointing fingers, tentacles and general limbs back at Spleenk.

Lard-Nar glared angrily, "You moron…"

ZiM coughed, "Look, forget that now. We've made an agreement that you better uphold or ZiM will kill each of you with waves of painful pain and squishing and organs" ZiM made motions of crushing and scratching with a fist and a hand, "if you go back on your word."

The Resisty leader nodded, "We are certainly well aware of your craft at that, especially since now you're just… different."

The hologram crossed his arms, "It was beneficial to the smeet's welfare that ZiM drop the act. The only side effect was that ZiM is now trapped with two tall idiots with attention issues."

Red and Purple were now trying to scratch and hit at the other while keeping themselves far enough away as not to be hit. ZiM shook his head and waved at a COMM who cut the feed to the Resisty.

Sizz-Lorr smirked, "Hey, not bad for an invader drop out."

Purple took a swipe at Red's eye socket and missed, "Yeah, we should have you do all the negotiating and speeches stuff!"

Red pulled back, "Which reminds me," he pointed at a couple guards, "YOU. Go and find Steve in the engine room and stuff him into one of the missiles we have then seal it so he can't get out. YOU. Call Food Courtia and tell them Quiler is to be deep fried and fed to a blob," he dodged another swipe from Purple, then made to scratch back but pulled away too soon to point at another set of guards, "YOU GUYS. Find what'shisname, the guy who puts drinks in our room. If we don't have a drink server called what'shisname, then round them all up and force them to… ahhh…" he looked over at ZiM, "ZiM, what was that show? It's got the orange midgets with giant poofy hair?"

The hologram looked confused as he thought, "… Jersey Shore?"

Red smiled, "Yes! Have them all watch Jersey Shore until they decide to drown on their own vomit or kill each other out of pity."

All the guards saluted and left to perform their duties.

Purple backed up a little to stare at his co-tallest, "Hey how are those Jersey Shorians midgets?"

Red looked proud, standing as tall as he could, "They're shorter than us aren't they?"

Purple laughed like an idiot, "Yeah. That makes us awesome."

His red-eyed equal scoffed, "Well, me more so."

Purple glared and swatted him on the back of the head. Red made a move to swat back but Sizz-Lorr quickly cut his spatula between them, risking their arms being cut off. Both tallests squealed like the 'men' they were, then inspected the spatula to find a way around it.

"Oh, when I find out how to get past this, I'm gonna make you eat dust from a vacuum cleaner," Red hissed.

Purple took a rubber band out from his PAK and set it up on his fingers, the band prepared to snap, "Bring it on, sister."

ZiM growled, "Enough! Get couples' counseling for all ZiM cares but this stops until ZiM's smeet is retrieved and Reep is dead! ZiM refuses to settle for less!"

The Tallests stared at the angry little hologram, then glared at each other, "Fine."

ZiM nodded, "Good, now command your troops to guard the planet of Clavictoo. Nothing gets onto the surface unless the both of you and ZiM allows it. We must be very careful."

Purple whined, "But being careful's too hard! Why can't you just do it?"

Sizz-Lorr grumbled, "ZiM's still trying to keep the both of you in charge of the situation."

Red thought for a moment, "You mean like… work?"

ZiM took a deep breath to keep himself calm, "This is your job. Lead your people. Prepare armies. Keep balance and natural order for Irkens."

Both Tallests thought about it, before Purple spoke, "Wait, I thought doing stuff we wanted to do was our job."

Red nodded, "Getting food."

"Pummeling bad invaders."

"Killing off people who make us angry."

Purple smiled, "This is making me hungry, I want nachos!"

ZiM stomped a foot down, "NO! Your job is to do what ZiM has been doing since this started! You two should be preparing your troops, negotiating proper demands and destroying any who dares threaten the lives of the ones you lead! The other stuff is just the perks of it all!"

Sizz-Lorr shook his head, "ZiM, don't yell at them. Dead corpses would understand better than these two."

Red glared at the fry cook, "You dare speak against us?"

He shrugged, "I can hold my own. Besides, you need me. Killing me would mean one less soldier to fight."

Red scratched his chin, "Such wisdom…"

ZiM was standing at a holo-table, already drawing up plans for the Irken troops and armada to follow, "Look, this isn't that difficult, ZiM will even finish half the plans for you so it will be easier!"

The hologram drew out Clavictoo with its little shrine on it roughly, then drew out ships guarding half the planet, "See?" ZiM hollered, "Even the Dib could do this!"

He tossed the graphic pen he was using to Purple, who caught it, "Now you two finish it, it shouldn't be all that hard, you know!"

ZiM hopped down from the holo-table and stomped out of the room with Sizz-Lorr following him. The Tallests inspected the pen, then floated over to the table to look the drawing over.

Purple blinked, "… Too hard!"

Red nodded, "The guys who do all the fighting will understand this!" he hit a small button and the plans were sent to their armies all across the universe.

"There!" Red smirked in satisfaction, "I am so smart."

Purple glared at him before making sure ZiM was clear of the room, "Wanna bet, loser?"

ssssssssss

It was much later that night when Purple could have sworn he heard something shuffle in the corner of his room. It was the first night of the week-sleep, an event older Irkens seemed to take with dread as they were required to sleep like normal humans after many months of not doing so. This meant hours were wasted each of the nights week-sleep needed to occur.

Purple sat up slowly and grumbled tiredly. Another effect of week-sleep. It made the Irken groggy.

The Tallest rubbed his eyes and stretched his antennae so he could hear a little better. The rustling was starting up again, but it sounded like the settling of his room.

Purple shook his head and let himself fall back with a 'fump' onto his pillow, "I hate week-sleep."

There was a scoff, "No kidding."

Purple's eyes widened and he looked down at the foot of his bed to see Red with a GIANT rubber band.

He whimpered, "R-Red?"

Red simply sneered and pulled the rubbed band back as far as he could, "Payback's a b…"

The following snap and scream from his fellow Tallest quickly drowned the rest of the overused phrase out.

ssssssssss

**Yep, the Tallests' continued incompetence rains supreme! Damn, I want BurgerKing… like, bad. Nice Whopper… but it's late, I'm tired, and I don't wanna drive cause I'm lazy. :333 And this wasn't filler, it all has meaning...**


	11. And the Voice Sobbed

**Hiiiiiii…** **Reeeeeeead…**

sssssssssss

"It's been about seven hours," whispered Dib into his handheld recorder, "Seven… LONG hours… since I was cleverly able to put ZiM's dumb robot to sleep."

The boy looked over at GIR, who hissed in his sleep and swatted at nothing. Every once in a while, a phrase shot out of his mouth, terrifying the young human, not because it was loud and random but because it might have meant GIR was waking up again.

Dib sighed softly after the robot screamed, 'fried taco-wings dipped in pig-linens', then ranted on again as quietly as he could, "I haven't heard from ZiM or the Tallests, or anyone, for a long while. I'm going to assume that nothing much has happened since our last conversation, but then again…" he paused, scoffing, "nah, I'm almost never wrong. I'm just going to wait for a call later on and I'll program the ship from there."

Dib looked at the buttons on Tak's ship, pressing one that seemed to look like a navigation directive. The button beeped softly, then glowed as it opened up a hologram to indicate where Tak's ship was at the moment.

The human inspected the map then groaned as quietly as he could when he realized he was still many hours away from the mass of Irken ships delegating themselves towards the Massive.

Dib smiled and spoke back into his recorder, "I've just located where the Massive is stationed. At the speed my amazing ship, that I repaired and my little sister had very minimal impact on, is traveling now, we should be there in several hours, BUT…" he pressed a couple more buttons and pushed a small lever forward very slowly; the ship moved faster, "by simply requesting an increase of speed and moving it as slowly as possible to the preferred velocity, I can have us there in about an hour."

The boy smirked, leaning back into his seat, sighing in content, "Yep, I'm a genius. And amazing."

GIR screeched out, 'fallin' from dah skies like the French's baton' then settled back down.

Dib jumped slightly and growled, frowning as he went to talk back into his recorder, "I think I'm gonna tell ZiM to keep GIR as far away from…" he looked into his hand to see that his recorder was missing.

The young human glared and looked under his seat, then over at GIR as though the little robot had done something in his sleep. But the SIR unit hadn't even moved. Dib stood, Tak's ship in autopilot, and started looking under and behind various consoles, feeling as though he was going insane.

The recorder was gone.

Dib felt his frustration building. He knew he just had it, he KNEW he just had it, but, also, he KNEW he JUST had it! Dib dug into his pockets, turning up nothing, and even dug into his boots just to be safe. When he found his person lacking a recorder, he sat himself on the floor of Tak's ship to relax and think.

The human stayed there for a few minutes until he felt the ship seem to bump into something. It was soft, so he didn't think it did any damage, but Dib got up anyway and looked out the front of the cockpit. And at that moment he wished he had simply ignored it and allowed himself to endure a tantrum at his lost recorder.

It was a club sandwich.

Dib stared at it in confusion and horror, blinking to make sure he was not going crazy.

GIR was suddenly next to him staring at the sandwich with him, "It calls to the bacon maker…"

The boy's eyes were wide enough already, but seemed to grow in confusion at GIR's comment, "The… the what?"

The robot looked at him, then back at the sandwich, "It is a bad sandwich. It calls to the one to complete it. The bacon."

Dib shook his head, glaring, "GIR, go back to sleep! Stop… Stop doing crazy things and…" he looked back outside at the sandwich, growling, "that's not even real!"

GIR smiled at him, his voice sounding much more different, "Then why can you see it?"

The voice sounded like his sister.

Dib yelped in surprise and scrambled back to his seat up in front.

GIR smirked, eyes glowing purple, "What's wrong, Dib? You're just going crazy like I said you would," his sister's voice cackled, "Crrrrraaaaaazyeeee…"

Dib screamed and shut his eyes, opening them again to see that GIR was no longer in the ship. The human panted to regain breath and whimpered, trying to calm himself.

"It's O.K." he hugged himself to stop trembling, "I'm O.K., I was just…"

The boy opened his eyes to see that the sandwich was gone. He breathed a sigh of relief and stood, shaking his head.

"I fell asleep," he concluded as he went to the back of the ship, "I've been making sure the ship's been flying right since we left and that means-"

"Eleven hours…" a voice sang out.

Dib stopped mid-step, his pupils shrinking to the size of a period. Much like the period at the end of this sentence. There! You saw it, right? It was small, so small that it could easily describe the size of Dib's pupils…

The boy looked around, trembling again, "G-Gaz? Look, I'm sorry I didn't tell you I was leaving, but I WILL take the trash out and you can either leave it or pile it up into my room if you want! Just stop this!"

The voice giggled, whispering so he couldn't even tell whose voice it was anymore, "Eleven hours since you left, seven ago since the robot offlined. Bad things are coming."

Dib gulped, deciding to indulge this voice, "What's… c-coming?"

The voice shrieked in terror, sobbing, "You asked! You asked! Warned you were, but you asked!"

The boy covered his ears to drown out the sobbing, then ran back to the front of the ship.

"No," the voice said shakily, "not that way. Stay in the back, it can't see you then."

Dib whimpered, "The… bad thing?"

The voice cried softly, "Don't let it find you. It hurts. It hungers. It hates. But it wants…"

The human boy grit his teeth, preparing to cover his ears if the voice shrieked again, "What does the bad thing want?"

The voice fell silent.

Dib frowned and looked around, "Hey… Hey! What does the bad thing want?"

The ship around him rumbled and shook violently, bouncing the human around and the voice cried loudly, "It wants all! Trapped in the dark, it wants the light! All it can see now, it craves! But if the bad takes the light, the light will die! Light all places burn black then stop! All things die, all things die, ALL THINGS DIE!"

Dib screamed and ran to the front of the ship, despite the previous warning, and jumped into the front seat to curl up. He sobbed into his hands, trembling again. Then everything calmed. The boy looked up, sniffing and saw nothing. The ship didn't even creak.

Dib sat up and sighed, taking his glasses off to wipe his eyes. When he put them back on, he looked out the front of the cockpit.

There was something out there. A background of pink and red waves of galaxies and stars sat behind it. It was a nothing. But it was there. Dib shivered as he sat forward, looking closely.

It moved. It was black, a dark gray where the light managed to reach it. In space, this thing, whatever it was, was balled up tightly, probably to keep warm. And then it was on the glass.

It was tall. It was dark. It seemed to be made of a sludge or oil or some muddy liquid. It had arms with shiny black claws on the hands. It had a body, but no legs. It looked up, but had no distinguishing features: its eyes and mouth seemed to melt in with the rest of the face.

It calmed Dib to see this thing. It had a soothing aura.

"The bad thing…" the voice whispered.

The creature's mouth gapped open, strands of the sludge still connecting to the top and bottom parts of the jaw. Now the aura felt different.

The creature reached in, the glass seeming to be a hologram to it and tried to grab Dib. The boy screamed and jumped away, trying to get back to the rear of his ship. The creature followed quickly, easily snagging the boy with tentacles growing from the tips of its arms and the bottom of its body. It pulled him back, all the while the voice sobbing.

Dib struggled, even when the creature held him in a tight grip against its body. The sludge began to encase him.

"It loves the light so much…" the voice sobbed, "It loves the warmth. But it can only love too tightly…"

Dib gasped for breath, being suffocated, "H-how… make it… stop…"

The voice gasped, and cried softer, "It cannot stop. It wants… It needs the love… It only wants the light's love to keep it warm… The Void stays cold without the light, but this is how it must stay…"

The human tried to reach out, but the sludge pulled his arm back. The last thing he saw was the light from the ceiling of his ship as he was encased. As it grew dark, Dib heard the voice sob again.

"It loves the light so much…"

sssssssssss

Dib woke screaming and sobbing, his head bolting up from the control console of his ship. ZiM's surprised scream joined him, a visual projection on a small screen showing his holographic being. GIR stayed asleep for a moment more, before shooting up and joining the ruckus, sobbing and shrieking in shock.

Dib settled down enough to sob into his arms, his body in a full shudder as he cried.

ZiM growled, panting to calm himself, "Dib… Dib! What the Irk was that? You are trying to…" he stopped when Dib refused to respond to the beginning of the lecture, "… Dib, what has gone wrong? ZiM called to inform you that the Resisty has begun making rounds to snuff out Reep's allies."

The boy sobbed, his handheld recorder being crushed in his hand. It was still recording.

The hologram sighed on the other side of the screen, "Dib. What has gone wrong?"

sssssssssss

**Read this chapter again. At night. When it's late. It has a much more curious affect. Especially since that is when I wrote it and NO, it's not a filler. It's important... R.R. if you'd like.**


	12. Bwoken

**Hiiiiiiii… Byyyyyyye…**

_sssssssssss_

Reep simply stared at the little cupboard his smeet was hiding in. He had decided after more than an hour after his outburst that the smeet was in real terror and that by being close, but without contact, it would benefit the both of them.

So he was on the kitchen floor at the moment, cross-legged and leaning forward to hear Eleven's soft sobs. Reep's antennae laid flat on his head, his elbows resting on his knees to keep him propped up and his eyelids were drooping slightly in boredom.

A shuffle from inside the cupboard made his entire body straighten up and he waited expectantly for Eleven to poke his little face out. The smeet did not come out.

Reep frowned and settled back down again, the anger that had been inside him from before mourning in agony. He patted his chest roughly, trying to get whatever was inside him to calm itself down. The mourning settled as well, becoming a soft pang of guilt and sorrow.

The monster sighed gently and reached a hand out to the cupboard door, knocking as softly as he could, "Smeet?"

Eleven winced from inside the cupboard and whimpered, "Go 'way…"

Reep scooted closer to the door and knocked again, "Smeet. Come out now."

The smeet huffed, sniffing as he wiped tears from his face, "No! You were mean! You scared me an' you hurt me, so no!"

The monster nodded, more to himself than anything, and allowed the inner pain he was feeling talk instead, "I know. And I was wrong to do such a thing to you. You are a very precious little creature and I should have never intended any harm upon you…"

Reep slowly stopped talking, wondering why he was admitting such powerful things. He glared at nothing and patted his chest again, roughly, to drown out the mourning inside him.

"Smeet," he started again, "you can't stay in there forever. You'll get cramped up. So come out now. You're not in any trouble, I'm not angry with you, none of anything that happened was your fault."

Eleven still did not move.

The monster felt the mourning inside him grow angry with rage. He was being NICE, he was being SWEET and Eleven still wouldn't heed to him. The anger was starting to boil as before, but Reep took a long breath and opened the cupboard door slowly. The smeet's back was to him and the little body let out a small hiccup, curling in closer to itself. Reep slowly reached inside the cupboard and pulled Eleven out with no resistance, cradling him gently.

The monster smiled slowly, "Good smeet."

Eleven kept his eyes down, avoiding Reep's gaze, and went on to pout. The monster chuckled and stood slowly, carrying the little Irk to the living room and setting him on the couch. While Reep encircled the comforter around the smeet, his PAK opened and two spider legs jumped out to grab and reassemble the bed he had previously thrown around.

The smeet watched carefully and after having determined that Reep was not making any moves towards harming him, patted down the comforter and smoothed it out to reform his little nest. The monster sat down on the floor in front of the smeet to watch and Eleven stopped his preparations to stare back.

And that is how they stayed for quite some time before the little smeet pouted, his face in a frown, and pointed demandingly at Reep, "No!"

Reep blinked and chuckled in surprise, "What?"

Eleven flapped his little hand in the monster's face, trying to shoo him away, "No! You go 'way now! 'Dis is MY pwace! You can't has it!"

The monster smiled softly and took the smeet's hand, "Now, smeet, is that really necessary? Why can't I stay right where I am?"

The emotion inside Reep purred happily at the contact and acknowledgement to which it was being rewarded. The monster unconsciously held onto the smeet's hand a little more firmly and snaked its claws up his wrist.

Eleven whined, "'Cause it is MY pwace an' I made it, so no!" the smeet wrenched his hand back quickly in defiance.

The content feeling inside Reep cried out in horror and anguish and the monster lashed out, snagging the smeet's arm in his claws again. Eleven gasped in surprise, his eyes threatening to tear up, but he stayed quiet when he looked into Reep's face.

The monster's eyes were almost black, as they had been before, but it was not angry. It had no emotion. It just was.

The smeet whimpered softly, "Reep?"

Reep blinked and let go of the smeet to rub his eyes with a groan. Eleven took this opportunity to jump onto the back of the couch and hang over the side just in case he needed to get away. The monster finished rubbing its eyes, which were purple again, and stared at the empty nest.

His antennae flattened and he got up swiftly to look around, "Smeet?"

Eleven perked his antennae slightly so he was more visible and Reep calmed down a bit, gently picking him back up, "There you are," he held him up slightly, "And why, pray tell, were you hiding there?"

The smeet pointed at Reep, gasping, "Your eyes are purple!"

The monster frowned and set the smeet back in his nest, "Yes, my eyes are purple and your eyes are blue. And Chi's eyes are green-"

Eleven shook his head, leaning out of the nest to continue pointing, "Your eyes were so black! They were dark and not purple no' mo'!"

Reep sat on the couch next to him, flexing the hand that had grabbed the smeet before, "Perhaps you were simply imagining things, dear smeet. You are a child after all. Aren't young children endowed with wild imaginations?"

The smeet frowned angrily and stood up in his nest to jump and down in protest, "No! I saw it an' it saw me! You had black eyes!"

The monster chuckled, "Fine. Let's say I believe you. Does it mean anything?"

Eleven's antennae flattened and he sat back down in the comforter, "I no know…"

Reep patted the smeet's head and smiled, "And perhaps it means nothing at all. I know some Irks lose the lights in their eyes when they become very angry."

The smeet whined and pulled the monster's hand off his head to shove it back to him, "But you was not ang'y!" the little Irk gasped and jumped on Reep's lap to inspect him, opening the monster's eyelids wide to make sure he was seeing everything, "Maybe you is bwoken!"

Reep growled softly, but allowed Eleven to continue his deliberation, "And why would I be broken? What could have caused such a thing, little smeet?"

The smeet pouted again and sat in the monster's lap, "I no know," he looked up at him, "but if you are bwoked, I can fix you! 'Den you can be nice fo'ever!"

Reep blinked slowly, confused, "I… Well, if you suppose you can…"

The emotion inside him reeled with delight, not only from the proximity of the smeet but from the proposition that Eleven's focus was now going to be on him! The monster unconsciously hugged the smeet close and nuzzled him gently, a purr emanating from deep inside his chest.

Eleven pushed away a little to see Reep's face, which was full of content emotion and half-lidded, blackened eyes.

The smeet sighed softly as the monster continued to nuzzle, "Reep, you're bwoked…"

_sssssssssss_

… **OH, COME ON, I AM NOT TELLING YOU ANYTHING. Only a couple things: NO, Reep's not gonna do THAT and NO, kisses aren't going to make him better! Plus, you should know a little of what's going on if you READ THE FIRST ECLIPSE. But please, R&R and tell me what you think Reep is suffering from? Other than having a giant ego, superiority complex and a dash of sicko.**


	13. Unreciprocated

**Boomshakalaka! I have been summoned by readers to write more!**

_sssssssssss_

Vort. Its former glory was no longer evident in the way it looked now. A dark desolate planet molded and crafted by its slaves to make it into a prison. It was a terrifying sight for those who used to call it home. It was a fear instilled into many who thought of rebelling. But it was a place only known as a testing facility to a select and special few.

Orange eyes wavered and a young Irken shivered involuntarily as the ship he was sitting in came closer to Vort.

He gagged, whether in sarcasm or fear even he was unsure of, and groaned loudly, "Why do WE have to go and investigate this? They KNOW I hate this place! They KNOW it's an insult to even suggest I come back here! I-"

The pilot chuckled, quoting the young Irk, "'I left once and made to leave only once. Why should I have to come back here when all I've ever known of this place has been tainted by the lab that brought me to this world?' And then I said, 'Because we're the closest ship in proximity to it.'"

N frowned at the pilot and huffed, "You think this is funny."

He stated it as fact, not a question.

The pilot nodded, smirking, "The great N, more infamously known as S.S., is afraid of planet Vort. S.S., who killed hundreds and stared evil right in the face. N, who has survived countless fatal wounds through incredibly fast regeneration and-"

"AND Saint," N interrupted, gripping the seat of his chair tightly, "whose face suddenly came into contact with his ship's dashboard when N, more infamously known as S.S., slammed a boot into the back of his head."

Saint laughed, shaking his head, "All right, I get it, no need to get testy."

The young Irk glared at him, "This place disgusts me. Don't tease me about it."

The red-eyed Irk nodded, "All right, I wont. Feel better?"

N growled, crossing his arms, "No, now turn this stupid ship around so I don't have to deal with that stupid planet all the way over there that some other Empire-heeding ship can go look at."

Saint sped the ship forward, "No can do. They said they needed an expert."

N rolled his eyes, "Well, how are you an expert in a prison planet?"

Saint smiled sadly, "Someone got out. Tallests want you."

The young Irk's crooked antennae flattened, "Me? I'M the expert?"

Saint's long antennae bobbed as he nodded, "You got out once, just as Vort was being reformed and invaded. You know most of the ins and outs that normal Irkens missed."

N slowly glared, "Oh. I see…"

"Now, you know it's not like that at all," Saint quickly added, setting the ship in autopilot to look at his comrade, "They think…" he paused, then sighed, "Reep."

N's eyes widened and he shoved Saint out of his seat to get at the pilot's controls, "Freakin'… MOVE, I'm driving!"

The young Irk pushed the ship to go faster and whined when he felt it wasn't going fast enough, "Go!" he yelled at the controls, "You weren't only built to make me mad, you were also built to DEFY me, weren't YOU?"

Saint quietly turned off the autopilot and let N rant at the ship as he made it head closer to Vort, sitting in the corner to avoid any misplaced anger.

_sssssssssss_

The inspection of the cell that once held Reep took a lot of effort from both Irkens not to have their heads explode. Saint had gone off to talk with one of the guards about the incident while N explored the cell.

The orange-eyed Irken touched the burns that scarred the walls and floors, slices of metal had been torn away in certain places and dents from very strong and very well-placed punches were littered all over the place.

N sighed heavily, shaking his head, "What… How could this have happened…?"

A small noise traveled across the room to N, a small hiss. The young Irken's antennae perked and he turned towards the noise; it was coming from another cell.

N frowned and left Reep's former prison in favor of finding the person hissing at him. Saint watched him carefully as he left, still talking to the guard who was supposed to have been watching the escaped convict.

The young Irk passed a couple cells and stopped in front of a low security grade door. The hissing stopped and whoever had been making the noise paused.

"… Hey, S.S. or N or whatever the hell you call yourself now…"

N's antennae perked, "Ray? They kept you in this place?"

Ray's eyes came up to the small window on the door and he growled, "Yeah, laugh now, but I want a deal here."

Ray's antennae were flat against his head as he stared back at N. From what could be seen through the little window, the Irken prisoner still had some scrapes and bruises from the battle on Clavictoo from only a few months prior.

Orange eyes narrowed and N scoffed, "Forget it. Just because you 'knew' me means nothing. You're worthless and I have to get back to work."

"No! Wait, you can't leave me like this! I have information about how he escaped!"

N stiffened and he growled softly, "… Fine. What is it?"

Ray sneered, "Nah, nah, nah, first you do me a favor."

The young Irk crossed his arms, "What then?"

Ray held up his hands, showing off that every single finger attached to each palm was broken, "ZiM's been having the guards break my fingers since I got here. He says it's punishment for having tried to kidnap your little brother. I want that to stop. I ALSO want to have my sentence reduced by at least a few years AND I want to be moved to cell section B-16."

N blinked, his eyes widening, "B-16- B-16 is a kiddy prison! Corrupt BANKERS get sent there!" he snarled, "Forget it Ray! I hope you rot!"

"But I know some things! I know how he got out and everything! At least get ZiM to stop recommending my fingers should be broken!"

The young Irken huffed, "Just tell me what you want to say so I can get on with my life."

Ray breathed softly, "Good… O.K., well look a few months ago he started babbling in old Irken. And I mean the OLD stuff. Granted, I don't know if he's fluent in that, but I learned a little old Vortian to pick up Vortian babes," he smirked dreamily, "a lot of them think that's hot… But as quickly as he started saying old Irken stuff, he was speaking old Vortian, too! And a bunch of other languages that I don't think have been spoken in forever because people forgot how to pronounce the words."

"How is this even helpful to me, Ray?" N growled, his face inching closer to the cell door, "How is this even helpful to YOU?"

"Because," Ray whispered quietly, "it happened around the same time he started throwing fire."

Orange eyes were wide again, but with surprise and horror.

Ray motioned to the end of the hallway, "When Reep was leaving, he passed my cell. He was speaking a mix of old Irken and Vortian. I didn't get most of what he said, but I'm assuming it has something to do with the smeet?"

N nodded, "Most likely…"

"Another thing, too," Ray sunk back a bit, "his eyes were almost black, man. I think he might have some kind of brain disease leaking into his eyes. Maybe he's going crazy, huh?"

N shook his head, "No. If he's throwing fire... In his cell, there's shredded metal and huge dents all over. Looks like practice…"

Ray shuddered, "Just… one more thing."

"What," N hissed.

Ray made another motion to the end of the hall, "Last cell. Reep stopped there to talk to her… I only picked up a little bit from that too. It sounded like he was bragging and cursing at her…"

"'Her'," N asked quietly; his attention was now at the last cell.

Ray nodded, "Yeah. Chi," he watched as N visibly stiffened, "She's older. She may have had time to study some of these older languages."

The young Irk balled his fists up at his side and sighed heavily as he started to walk from Ray's cell.

"Hey," Ray called from his prison, "she's been asking for you! Isn't that a shame?"

N simply growled and stomped to the final cell on the end of the block. He peered into the cell door's little window, then knocked softly.

A dark figure loomed over to the door, dark, shiny green eyes leering at his own bright orange eyes.

"… Hello, S.S. I've missed you very much."

N glared back at her, "Chi. I'm happy to say the feeling is unreciprocated."

_sssssssssss_

**TAKE THAT, CHICKEN WINNERS. If you read the first Eclipse, then I didn't have to explain much, now did I? R&R And if you send me fanart on deviantart (my user name is megadoomingir) I just might update more… *hinthintHINT***


	14. It Has What It Seeks

**BOO. … omg, you were so scared, I think it was funny…**

_sssssssssss_

She was stalking around him like a predator. N kept his gaze ahead. He wasn't interested in her, he was interested in the information she had.

Chi was purring as she circled around him. This was a glorious moment for her and she was going to take advantage of it.

"Well?" N hissed, "Wasting my time will get you no where."

Chi chuckled darkly, "I'm savoring this. It's quite interesting that you would come to me in a situation such as this."

She wrapped her arms around his neck from behind in a hug, nuzzling, "I missed you very much, S.S."

N shifted a shoulder roughly, bouncing her off, "I was never S.S. My name is N."

Chi pursed her lips, feigning a bit of disappointment, and simply hovered away, "Well, how sad for you that you forgot our special connection."

"Nothing was special about it," N growled, growing frustrated, "You created a scenario in that sick little PAK of yours and my silence allowed it to grow and fester."

The clone rolled his now glowing orange eyes and huffed as he headed for the door, "This is pointless. Your very presence in my life as of now is a waste."

Chi's antennae flattened as she watched him.

N reached for the panel to let himself out, "I'm leaving-"

She growled and snagged his other hand, "You give up on me so easily? Since when did you ever leave something so important to chance? I have information crucial to your new enemy and you're deciding to ignore me!"

N wrenched his hand away, "You're stringing me along! You're useless!"

"Eri usé rouchi re iko eri zaer."

The clone's antennae flattened and he looked back at her, "What… what the heck was that?"

Chi smirked, "What Reep came to my cell door to tell me. Eri usé rouchi re iko eri zaer. Very old Irken."

N glared, his hands in tight fists that shook at his sides, "And you're telling me this for what reason? So I'll stay a little longer?"

She ignored the question, hovering around her cell in a clouded mind of bliss, "You tell me. You could easily leave with what I've told you, but it means nothing without context."

"Bull-crap!" N pointed at her, "Just spit it out!"

Chi smiled, "He said, 'I have found the one I seek'."

The clone scowled and crossed his arms, "Yeah, that's no real help, especially when it was something he said to you."

N went back to the panel, intent on opening it and leaving this time.

Chi smirked, "But that was not all he said."

N whined loudly and banged his head against the wall loudly, "… Then what ELSE did he say?"

She hovered to his side and pulled him away from the door, "Stay a while. I just might have to tell you then."

The clone's body stiffened at the contact and he growled, "Make my use of time on your obsession with me worth it. No one can stop me from choking you to death to satisfy my need for revenge if you waste it."

Chi smiled, taking his chin to inspect the face she knew once had a scar, "Tsk, tsk, you've never said such horrible things to me before, now have you?"

N pulled his face away, "I always thought them."

Chi sighed, still smiling, "It seems such a shame you are a clone. I should have known from your perfection at everything you did."

"You looked me in the eye," N hissed, "You may not remember, but you looked me in the eye when you shot me. I was sure you would have remembered me again had you taken the time to look."

She hugged him tightly, nuzzling, "But none of that has to matter now, does it? I can overlook the fact that you're a clone and we can still be happy."

N growled, trying to pull from her hold but failing, "Stop being such a sick dreamer and let me go. Then tell me what I need to know so I can leave to throw up."

Chi hugged tighter, "You'll never come back if I tell you."

"That's the point!" the clone whined, freeing an arm, "I never wanted to come back to this place, and you being here sure doesn't help!"

She smiled, settling her chin on top of N's head, "I will tell you, but only if you promise to stay with me."

"I-" N growled, his whole body shaking with anger, "Why should I?"

Chi giggled, "You have no choice. Accept my offer or remain in the dark forever."

The clone huffed, "Fine. Have it your way. I promise…"

The tall Irken purred loudly and nuzzled her prize, "How wonderful…"

N groaned as he felt lunch churning uncomfortably in his spooch, "Yes, great, now you were saying about Reep?"

"It goes back to something much more than just a man looking for power and a smeet who just happens to have it, my sweet," she cooed, "it is a story of nightmares and deep sadness."

N frowned, "You think it will scare me?"

"Oh yes," she said softly, "it scares even me…

_When the Heart became the existence of everything, the beating life in all things alive and imbued with a source of life, there came the Void. A dark thing, cold and alone and with nothing that could be near it long enough to survive its grip. No living creature, planet, star or galaxy can live in its vicinity. The Void lacks an ability to appreciate emotion and warmth from anything that reaches out to it… except the Heart. And that was a grave mistake. The Void is the opposite and when Life tried to save Death, Death became jealous and possessive, wanting to keep Life for itself. The Void has always failed when it came to possessing the Heart, but with every reincarnation the Heart undergoes, the Void gets closer to its goal. Every time the Heart changes forms, the Void does so as well which is why the Heart chose to hide itself in such a way._

Chi hugged N softer, nuzzling…

"_When the Heart was new, naïve and full of such hope, it found the Void. Death had hid itself in the dark reaches of the universe to watch from afar and take at its leisure, but had never been approached by the living or Life itself. The Heart tried to heal the suffering of the Void and this was Life's closest encounter with nonexistence. It is said that the Heart was allowed close enough to make the Void calm and even happy… until it tried to leave. The Void lashed out in anger and tried to show its love for the Heart by catching it and taking it into its own being. It almost succeeded until our gods and the gods of others were able to back the Void into the darkness long enough for the Heart to hide. It has not had an encounter that close…_

… until now," she finished with a purr.

N's eyes were wide, staring at nothing as he allowed Chi to hold him, "… Reep…?"

Chi pursed and tsked again, "Such a shame isn't it? The Void has the Heart now. It's only a matter of time before Reep is destroyed and the Void…" she chuckled, "has what it seeks."

The clone shook his head roughly, "No. No, that can't happen! Wouldn't Reep know if-"

She smiled, "Oh, no, that's not how it works, my sweet. Reep awakened the Void when he entered the shrine with your brother. His expression of the little smeet's gifts shows that Void overtook his being and is residing there now," she giggled, "like a parasite, he's slowly being eaten away and soon his body will be destroyed along with the rest of him. Once that happens, everything can die as the Void intends, as long at it has the Heart it desires."

N shoved out of Chi's grasp, tears in his eyes, "I'm gonna stop it… I won't let it happen, I'm stopping it."

Chi reached out and stroked his cheek, "You can't. The Void has never been this close before and it won't take kindly to losing the smeet now. Besides," she leaned in for a kiss, "you promised…"

N tried to lean back, digging his claws into Chi's protective Tallest wrist guards, when the door opened loudly and spooked Chi back. Saint stormed in with a growl and ripped N out of Chi's tight grip. The clone stumbled behind the taller Irken as he grabbed Chi and shoved her back, hissing something to her antennae.

N quickly walked out of the room as she began to shriek, screaming and cursing loudly. Saint simply pushed her back and followed after N, the door slamming behind him.

Chi continued to wail and scream, banging on her locked cell door, "NO! NO, YOU CAN'T! YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME!"

N glanced back at her, but was forced to look forward when Saint started forcibly leading him away, "What did you SAY to her?"

Saint only growled, "That she had no right to touch you…" they came to the end of the hallway, past Ray's cell, "And that she will never see, or have you, again."

_sssssssssss_

**R&R? I'm only asking, if it's too hard, then at least read again. ^^**


	15. And Coveted

**Love is me writing you guys more chapters. Be merry, like my little elves! X333 … or, you know, not.**

_sssssssssss_

Reep smiled down at his smeet as the little Irken was handed a pen and pad of paper, "What do you intend to do with these?"

Eleven scratched his head with the end of the pen, "I'mma be a doctor! I gots to write down what's wrong wif you…" the smeet wrote down little scribbles, "but first I wanna doodle…"

The monster chuckled and scooped up the smeet, holding him close, "You're quite an amusing little thing, aren't you?"

Eleven pouted and poked Reep's cheek with the cap of the pen, "No 'm not! I'mma smeet!"

The older Irk sat on the bed and set the smeet on his lap to see what he was drawing, but Eleven flipped the page and started writing things down.

"O'tay," he started, "first you gots dark eyes-"

"So you say."

Eleven whined loudly and patted at Reep's arm roughly, "Quite, patient! I be diagnosin'!" he cleared his throat, "So… black eyes, an' 'den weird acting an' 'den you hug me too much."

Reep blinked as the smeet wrote all of this down, "Exactly what do I do when I get black eyes?"

Eleven shrugged, "Well, you get quiet an' 'den you dun' let me go an' you hug me an' nuzzle me an' you PURR."

The smeet pretended to hack, then turned the page to make more little doodles, "You is bwoken way bad…"

Reep shook his head, "I don't remember doing these things smeet. Perhaps you are mistaken?"

Eleven frowned, still doing his doodle, "Nuh uh, an' 'm nah lyin', neither. I has no reason to."

The monster smiled and took the pad from the smeet carefully, "Well, what happened just before my eyes turned black?"

The smeet whined when his pad was taken from him, but he stopped to think for a moment, "Um… well, you were near me."

Reep looked the smeet over, "I'm within inches of you now and nothing is happening. You're tired, my smeet, and I believe you believe what you think happened."

Eleven snatched his pad of paper back and huffed, hopping from the bed, "I know what I goed an' saw an' 'm nah tired right-"

A loud growl was the only warning the little smeet got as he was tackled roughly from behind and held tightly as he rolled. His pen and paper fell from his hands as he tried to lash out at the sudden attack, but when the rolling stopped, he realized Reep had caught him in a tight grip and was sitting on the floor, teetering back and forth with a raspy breathing pattern while he held him. Reep's eyes were wide and black.

Eleven shook in fear, staring at the monster's face. It looked frustrated. The smeet tried to call Reep back, but had no voice with which to say anything.

After a few minutes, Reep blinked his eyes back to purple and used a hand to rub them. It was then that Eleven let his fears out as he started to wail and cry. The monster jumped in surprise and held the smeet softer.

"What… Smeet, what's wrong?" he tried to coo.

Eleven cried harder and tried to push out of Reep's hold. The monster hesitantly obliged, setting the smeet on his feet to move about on his own. Eleven immediately scuttled away to the other side of the couch to cry and avoid another surprise tackle.

Reep scratched his head, utterly confused, especially when he felt the deep pressure of guilt residing in his chest. He patted his chest and the emotion quieted down.

"Smeet?" he called very softly, "Smeet, did it happen again?"

Eleven hiccupped and nodded to himself, "Yeah…"

Reep's antennae lowered and he frowned in thought, "Computer," a beep responded, "compile a video feed of my strange behavior with whatever you have on file."

The ship's computer beeped again, "Error. Corrupted videos. Damaged files. Should I still try to compile a feed?"

The monster growled, "Yes. I want to see what the smeet has been seeing."

The computer responded quietly, "Of course, sir, compilation should be complete within the hour."

Reep slowly stood and went to find where Eleven had gone off to. The smeet was tiredly resting his head on a cushion on the couch, tears still falling down his cheeks. The monster sighed and offered a hand.

"Perhaps you should rest, smeet…"

Eleven stared at the hand and slowly shook his head, "No. No touch…" he slowly got up and walked to the bed by himself, pulling himself up with little trouble.

Reep watched, nodding, "I understand, Eleven," he sat next to the smeet as he got situated and his PAK brought him the comforter from the couch so he could drape it over the smeet.

Eleven pulled the comforter over his head and wrapped it around all over his body, yawning softly. Reep got off the bed and sat on the couch, putting his feet up on the coffee table with a heavy sigh.

The smeet mewed as he closed his eyes and calmed down, "Nigh-nigh…"

The monster's antennae perked and he smiled a little, "Good night, smeet."

_sssssssssss_

It only took a few minutes for Eleven to fall asleep, but, to Reep's dismay, took the computer another half hour to finish the video compilation. When it was finally finished, the monster tiredly pulled himself from his resting spot to engage the main video terminal and access the final video feed.

The computer buzzed, "Um, sir? Perhaps you should heed my diagnosis of the feed. It is corrupted. There were damaged files-"

Reep growled, "I want to see what you found."

A small screen popped up from the dash, fuzzy with grain, then blinked to the first 'event'. Reep watched as he asked the smeet why he could not sit next to him, then took the smeet's hand. When Eleven snapped back and wrenched his hand away, the feed cut for a brief second, then became grainy. It was clear that Reep's eyes had changed in color but the shading around him and near the smeet was clearly off.

Reep frowned and saved a few seconds of the grainy footage, and watched the next one, where Eleven was being nuzzled and held by Reep. Again, the footage became harshly grained and shaded and Reep growled softly as not to wake the smeet, saving a couple seconds of that footage.

The last 'event' was hardest to watch. As Reep watched Eleven jump from him, a dark flash seemed to black out the feed, graining it badly, but he could clearly see himself, clutching the smeet tightly once the video brightened up a bit. After saving a few seconds of that event, he split the screen in three to see all the events together.

Reep hmmed softly, watching all of them at normal speed. He blinked and rubbed his eyes.

"Computer," he murmured, "half speed."

The monster watched again.

"… Slower."

Reep watched the feeds again, observing a transparent black mist just above his upper body and arms.

He growled, "Computer, change the colors, no… Show me all three of these with a heat sensor setting."

The computer seemed to shudder, "Please… sir, let's just say the files-"

"Show me."

The computer reset the screen and Reep's eyes widen.

There was a creature superimposed over him. In each event.

The Irk looked at his arms in fear and stared back at the screen. The creature, whatever it was, was using Reep's body to wrap itself around the smeet.

And the strange emotion within himself seemed to grow proud with Reep's newfound realization. The monster's entire body shook as he stood, nearly falling over from shock, and it carried itself heavily over towards the couch.

But the emotion, the CREATURE, inside him, roared in protest and Reep's eyes turned black.

A few minutes later, Reep's form settled itself on the foot of the bed, black eyes staring at Eleven. A soft purr emanated from deep within the monster's chest when it became comfortable and it continued to stare, unblinkingly, at the smeet.

It sat and stared and coveted…

_sssssssssss_

**You feel bad for him now. I know you do…**


	16. Hallucinogenic Llama Theories

**Well, well, well, well, well, well, well… well… Yeah, that's all I got…**

_sssssssssss_

Dib had refused to see anyone but ZiM when he finally arrived on the Massive. The young human screamed at anyone who approached him, especially the Tallests. Both Red and Purple had to be escorted from the docking bay due to the fact that Dib's screaming suddenly sent Purple into a fit of frustrated sobbing.

ZiM lead Dib to a quiet room, the human babbling nonsense all the way. The hologram blinked at him like he was a crazy person and looked the human over for any obvious signs of trauma or injury, but found nothing. Dib refused to let go of his handheld recorder and even hissed at ZiM like a defensive cat when ZiM tried to take it from him.

The hologram gave up after a while and simply watched the human babble and whisper to himself while checking under the couch and desk in the room.

Someone talking outside made ZiM's holographic antennae perk and there was a soft knock on the door.

"Hello?" the door opened, revealing an Irken in a military medical outfit; he looked somewhat disheveled and worn and his face was buried in a medical folder, "I was told to come here…"

He looked up and ZiM smiled at him, "Ah, doctor Felm now, isn't it?"

Felm blinked and smiled, "Oh, you two. How have you been?"

ZiM sighed and looked over at Dib, who shrieked and dove under the couch for safety, "It seems the Dib-human has become… crazy… as ZiM and many others have predicted, but unfortunately this is not the right time."

Felm nodded and entered the room, setting his folders on the desk, "Well, that's why I'm here. The Tallests had me rushed to the Massive when you told them of your little friend's condition."

"Dib is no friend," ZiM snapped quickly, "The human is merely an expensive and risky smeet-sitter. ZiM still does not trust the human…"

Felm sighed and crouched down near where Dib was hiding, smiling gently, "Dib? My name is Felm, remember? From a little while ago? I was told you needed my help."

ZiM watched from the sidelines, "ZiM did not realize you studied psychology."

The taller Irken shrugged, "I have the basics and easily from what I'm seeing now, this may not be a psychotic episode."

The hologram blinked, but said nothing.

Felm peeked under the couch, "Dib? Would you like to tell me what happened to you on your ship?"

Dib didn't move from his hiding spot, but extended his hand and held out the recorder, "… I think you need this…"

The Irken took the recorder slowly, then gently held out his other hand, "And you? Will you come out so you can tell me what it means?"

The human shook his head, "I don't feel safe…"

ZiM growled, his hands in fists, "YOU don't feel safe? This isn't about YOU, Dib-worm! ZiM's smeet, your FRIEND, is kidnapped! ZiM needs you to grow up or go home!"

Dib was slowly crawling out from under the couch as ZiM hollered at him and Felm watched in interest. When ZiM stopped to calm himself, Dib started to recede back into his hiding place.

Felm's antennae perked and he hissed quickly at ZiM, "Don't stop, keep insulting him."

The hologram blinked and shrugged, taking in a large fake breath, "ZiM HATES you, Dib-stink! Because of your stupidity and incompetence, ZiM's smeet is gone! You are a dumb, pig-monster and ZiM demands that you pull that organ you call a brain from those metaphorical clouds and grow a pair off-"

"This is MY fault?" Dib hollered back.

Felm smiled. As negative as the conversation was, Dib was the one responding, as he should have.

ZiM smirked, crossing his arms, "Oh, of course it is. ZiM left you in charge and YOU screwed it up!"

The little human half growled and half whined, "You expect a human child to watch over an alien child and protect him from a full grown, creepy, alien adult?"

Felm shook his head as they argued and lead Dib to a chair to sit on, then motioned ZiM over and sat them both down on the large seat.

"Both of you," he said softly, "need to work some things out later. But for now, would Dib like to explain what happened?"

ZiM glared at the being he was sharing the chair with, "Yes, Dib would."

The human frowned and looked away, "… I don't know…"

Felm's PAK set up a small camera on his shoulder, recording what he thought might be important, "Well… what about this?" he set the recorder in front of him, "Would you like to tell me why you think this is important?"

Dib stared at it, then looked up at Felm, "Well, it was on the whole time. It might have picked up something while I was… not mentally aware."

ZiM went to scoff, but Felm gave him a look and he quieted down.

"All right," the doctor nodded, "should I turn it on then?"

Dib nodded back, his eyes suddenly wide with interest, "I wanna know what's on it."

Felm clicked it on and hit the rewind button, pressing play after a few moments. Dib's voice became present and GIR snoring and shrieking in the background showed they were on the right track.

"_I think I'm gonna tell ZiM to keep GIR as far away from…_"

And then there was a loud smack. Dib blinked, rubbing his forehead, and slowly began to assume that that was when he had passed out. The tape went on for a few moments, then a piercing scream erupted from the little speakers. Dib jumped and covered his ears, Felm mimicking the movement by covering his antennae.

ZiM blinked, "What was that?"

No one responded.

The tape continued on, the scream fading away. It grew silent until a shriek and roar exploded from the speakers and the little recorder began to shake and smolder. Dib jumped back and ZiM instinctively moved in front of the child to protect him, while Felm yelped and dove back to escape the fire breaking free from the device.

Alarms went off in the room to indicate a fire had broken out and the door to the room burst open. A clouded figure with an enormous eggbeater in its hand coughed and hacked as it came in.

"Who's burning pies in here?"

"Jeb!" Felm screamed, pointing at the fire, "Put it out! Quickly!"

Felm dashed to the door when he saw the ZiM had already scooped Dib up and had taken him out.

Jeb smirked and twisted the handle of his eggbeater, "HA! Burnt pies, be gone!" he slammed the kitchen tool down on the flaming recorder, causing small sparks to fly from it and smolder out.

He spent a good few minutes beating the fire down until all that was left was a smoking pile of plastic. Felm and Dib peeked back in, but the little human was dragged away and replaced by ZiM, much to his disappointment. Dib wanted to protest but he just growled and crossed his arms.

Jeb set his eggbeater up vertically so he could lean on it and admire his work, "Yeeep, I'm THAT good," he smiled dumbly and looked back at the door, "S'O.K., I killed it!"

Felm frowned and cautiously walked back into the room to stare at the tape and the fire marks it had made on the coffee table. But there were no marks.

The entire room was still clouded in smoke and the recorder was still smoldering and hissing as it cooled down, but the fire that should have damaged the room had made no marks, no burns, no scorching, on anything except the tape recorder.

ZiM growled as he reentered the room, his antennae perked high, "Well? What was the meaning of all that? Tell ZiM!"

The doctor shook his head, staring at the melted plastic from a distance, "I don't… I… have never seen…"

Dib suddenly burst into the room, pointing an accusing finger at his recorder, "AHA! Ghosts!"

Jeb stared down at Dib, then at the recorder, then at Dib, then at his eggbeater, then squealed and ran from the room, screaming.

ZiM growled, smacking the back of the human's head, "Do not be a llama! Ghosts did not possess your stupid recorder! Now stop scaring the Jeb with your llama-ghost-possession theories and think of something more… not stupid!"

Felm poked at the smoldering device, "This thing is easily full of electronic equipment, which stands to reason that the tape inside became corrupted and burned, causing the rest of the recorder to start smoking and light on fire. The coffee table must be coated in a flame retardant solution and that is why it is not burnt…"

Jeb stopped his running and screaming in the hallway to poke his head in and giggle, "Heee, you said 'solution'…" he calmed down enough to come back inside, "So, are the ghosts gone now?"

"There were NEVER any GHOSTS," ZiM barked in irritation, his holographic finger jabbed into Dib's gargantuan head, "The Dib is full of smeety-imaginations and possibly hallucinogenics from the human skool's cafeteria foods!"

Dib frowned and swatted the finger away, "Hey! I BAG my skool lunch now!"

ZiM cackled, "AHA! YOU DO NOT DENY?"

Felm gently separated the two, "Stop it, no fighting," he sighed, "Whatever the cause may be, I think it would be best to start the process of getting Eleven back by ridding ourselves of this broken device. It has no use anymore and I don't like how angry it's making the both of you."

Hologram and human both growled and huffed, nodding, "Fine." "That is acceptable for I am ZiM!"

Felm smiled and picked up the burnt plastic remnants up with a cloth, folding it up and stashing it into a wall trash chute, "There, all gone."

ZiM nodded, "Excellent, now what's on your tape?"

The doctor blinked slowly, "My…?"

Dib nodded with ZiM, "Hey, yeah! You were recording the whole thing visually with your PAK-cam! Lemme see it!"

Both pint-sized beings started hopping up and down around Felm's feet, trying to get their hands on the camera. Jeb saw their reaction to the camera and squeed, joining in the best he could considering he was about as tall as Felm.

Felm hummed softly and took the camera off his PAK, holding it away, "W-well, just wait a minute, it's brand new and it was a gift from Clai-"

Jeb snagged it from him and bounded out the door, "I HAS THE CAMERAAAAAA!"

ZiM and Dib were at his heels, running after him as the group hit an elevator and dove inside. Jeb pressed a random floor button repeatedly, trying to get the doors to close faster, but Felm just wandered in and sighed, standing next to them.

When the door finally closed, Felm peeked over Jeb's shoulder to look at his camera, "… All right, lets have a look then, shall we?"

Both taller Irkens crouched to the floor so the smaller beings around them could see and Felm reached over to turn on the camera. The back screen lit up and the doctor slowly selected the first recorded file he had.

They all watched quietly, no one breathing a word as the screen showed the almost innocent looking recorder sitting on the coffee table. The smack from Dib's head told them they were all on the right track and when the piercing scream burst from the recorder, all of them jumped. It sounded more like the original scream than a copy from the copy. Jeb started trembling and everyone gasped loudly when the roar that came after was accompanied by a shadowy mist lashing out from the recording device. The flames around the recorder exploded from Dib's tape recorder and ZiM giggled a little, then everyone screamed when the flames being shown on the camera screen were suddenly all over the camera.

Jeb threw it into the elevator doors as ZiM and Dib scampered into a corner to hide and scream at each other from surprise. Felm yelled over and over how the camera was new and how he didn't want to suffocate in an elevator because of it.

Jeb unsheathed his eggbeater and smacked it roughly and repeatedly against the smoldering camera to snuff the flames out. After a few moments, the embers cooled and died away and Jeb smiled in satisfaction.

"Killed it again! Aw, YEAH, I'm so good at this!"

Felm panted and whimpered from all the screaming, "We are not doing that again…"

ZiM looked up and pointed, "Hey… maybe we can."

Dib looked at where he was pointing and nodded, "Hey, yeah, maybe we should. The elevator camera had a better view…"

_sssssssssss_

**BOYS NEVER LEARN. I USE THE JACKA$$ DUDES AS AN EXAMPLE. Plus, exploding camera devices are coolio. R&R and if you make some fanart for me, send me a link on deviantart. I watch back AND I actually communicate back to people. Remember, look up megadoomingir on deviantart to send me the link.**


	17. Come Back

**Boo? Yes.**

_sssssssssss_

The yawn.

It woke the little smeet up from his sleep as he performed the action, then caused him to whimper when he realized that he was now awake. Eleven pouted and kept his eyes closed so he could stretch, then hopefully just fall back asleep.

After a few minutes, the smeet felt his awareness growing instead of slipping back into unconsciousness and he whined, sitting up. He rubbed his eyes, mumbling, and stretched again, opening his eyes.

Reep's black eyes stared back at him.

Eleven gasped and dove under the covers to hide, but the monster at the end of the bed didn't move. After a moment, the smeet peeked out from under his blanket to watch carefully and when Reep still didn't move, he pulled himself up and stared back curiously.

The dark black eyes didn't seem to follow the little Irk's movement, so Eleven cleared his throat and piped up a little, "Hi!"

Reep's right eyelid twitched, but he didn't move.

The smeet hmmed softly as he continued to probe carefully, slinking closer, "Were you watchin' me sleep? I was asleep, you know! I can nah talk to peoples when I sleep!"

The monster's mouth slowly curled into a smile, but still, he did not move.

Eleven sat in front of him, continuing to talk, "When I sleep, I dream a lot. Do you dream when you sleep? I don' LIKE my dreams sometimes cause after they be done, I wake up all tired. Do you ever wake up an' you're all tired?"

The monster's smile just got bigger, his black eyes remaining open and unblinking.

The smeet pouted a little out of thought and stood up, waving his arms a bit to keep his balance, then slid down the side of the bed.

Reep's head didn't even move to watch him.

Eleven's little feet made a soft tapping sound as he entered the kitchen, looking through the lower cupboards for something to eat, "'m hungy, awe you hungy too?" he pulled out a jar of peanut butter, inspecting it, "Imma eat dis one, cause it's good," he turned around, "Do you like-"

He stopped short, his whole body freezing when he saw his own reflection in the big black eyes that were within inches from his face. Reep's body was crouched to his level, the smile still holding, and was just staring back at him.

Eleven frowned and pouted, pointing, "No! You don' do dat! Dat's MEAN an' you a'mos' make me dwop dah peanu' butter!"

The monster still didn't move.

The smeet continued to pout and grumble angrily as he searched for a spoon, "Now 'm nah gonna shawe wif you so dat's what you get! Not'ing!"

Eleven found a spoon and walked back into the living room and bedroom area, trying to decide where he should sit to eat his snack. He grumbled a little and went back to the bed, tossing the jar and spoon up first, then pulling himself up.

When he reached the top of the bed he squealed and almost fell back down.

Reep's black, unblinking eyes, along with his smile, were there waiting for him.

The smeet pulled himself back up and growled loudly, "No! Bad, bad, bad! You don' go an' scawe me! You awe a meanie an' I don' like when you scawe me!"

He grabbed his spoon and opened the peanut butter jar as he sat down, taking a large spoonful and starting to eat. The monster beside him watched, unmoving, and slowly started to breath deeply to create a soft purr.

After a few bites, the smeet closed the jar and ate the rest of the peanut butter off the spoon, setting both on the nightstand beside the head of the bed. Reep's body continued to stay stock still, the purr emanating from him being the smeet's only indication that he was still alive.

Eleven looked up at him, frowning, "O'tay, Imma gonna fo'give you fo' scawin' me, but you can nah do it again!"

The monster's smile only seemed to grow, so the smeet took that as his answer and slid down the side of the bed again to look around.

"I wanna pway!" he announced loudly, and dashed to the computer console only a few feet away, hopping up on the chair, "Pway time, pway time!"

The computer beeped softly, but didn't respond to Eleven's probing and button mashing; he, after all, was not programmed in to give the computer orders. The smeet pouted and slipped back off the chair, looking around to find something else to do.

All the while, Reep's body never moved, still watching from its perch on the bed. The monster's breathing slowly became deeper and raspier as time passed, his view of the entire room clear. And his overview of the smeet unobstructed.

Eleven jumped up onto the couch and started pulling the cushions off to reconfigure them into a fort. He squeaked when a 'wall' would fall over and cooed happily when he created the roof for his new domain, then took a light blanket from the back of the couch and tossed it on top.

"Done, done, done!" he squeed loudly, then dove inside, giggling and laughing.

The monster on the bed watched the smeet disappear in his fort and its eyes widen exponentially. Its smile disappeared and it bared sharp teeth, hissing loudly. The monster slipped from the bed and growled, approaching the little fort with claws extended.

As it came closer, the smeet's laughter became more audible and he rustled inside his fort but the monster continued its anger-driven march towards Eleven's hiding place.

The smeet peeked out to find another pillow and a deep roar erupted from the monster, its claws coming down and ripping the cushions of the couch to shreds. Eleven screamed and dove from the attack, trying to get under the coffee table.

Now the monster was on the move. It dove in after him, shrieking and gnashing its sharp teeth as it tried to grab the little Irken. The smeet crawled away as fast as he could and jumped over the coffee table back to the couch, almost throwing himself over the side to escape a crushing blow from the monster behind him. The attack was made with such force that the frame of the couch was now broken and the monster's hand was observably damaged badly.

Eleven cried and ran into the kitchen, Reep's possessed black eyes following him all the way. The monster slashed at him, missing when the smeet would duck or dodge, and destroyed cupboards and drawers when it would hit them instead.

The little Irken jumped on the kitchen island and scrambled to get down carefully, but the monster was right behind him, following his movements and snarling at Eleven's escape. The smeet dove back to the mangled cushions to hide under the debris, but the evil that had once been another Irk slashed into the stuffing, searching him out.

Eleven sobbed when the monster removed all the fluff and snatched him up roughly, a pillow the only thing keeping them separated. The monster ignored the smeet's terror and tore the pillow away, intent on getting its claws into the little Irken's flesh, and gnashed his teeth angrily at him, its black eyes seemingly ablaze with anger and hate.

The smeet whimpered loudly and hugged the monster around the neck as tightly as he could, crying, "COME BACK, COME BACK, COME BACK!"

The monster shrieked in confusion and fell backwards, Eleven still clinging to it.

"COME BACK, COME BACK," the smeet took in a long breath and screamed, "REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!"

Reep's eyes widened and he gasped, hugging the smeet tightly as his eyes melted back into a dark purple. The little Irken cried and sobbed, refusing to let go.

The older Irk gasped hard for breath and looked around in confusion, sitting up and scuttling back towards the bed in hopes of protecting the smeet from whatever it was that was scaring him. But Eleven only cried harder and nuzzled into his shirt to dry the tears.

Reep stared down at him, his own eyes wavering, and tried to hush him, "Please… p-please, Eleven, it's O.K…"

The smeet shook his head and sobbed, "Don't go… don't go…"

Reep nodded and rocked him slowly, "I won't…"

_sssssssssss_

**Bad, Void. Bad. No more cookies and milk for you. *is skinned alive***


	18. Seen

**Time to revitalize the forgotten. Quite a few of you remain fans. Some have moved on. For those who want some closure, I intend to finish this story…**

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ZiM paced back and forth slowly in the COMM area. Many workers tried to continue about their duties, but the holographic being was exhibiting some unnerving behaviors. Being there. Watching them work. The PRESSURE.

Felm was busy at a computer screen, typing cautiously into the console as he searched for the elevator feed from a little while earlier, "Um, I really don't believe we should be poking at this…"

ZiM huffed loudly, "Well, ZiM says we SHOULD. Now poke faster! ZiM grows impatient with your slow typer fingers of slow!"

The medic frowned and still began to type, scrolling through a log of video feeds; he grumbled to himself, "Not slow…"

Dib and Jeb came in a few moments later, the human with a tray of coffees and the Irken with a pitcher of purified water.

"We made it back!" Jeb cheered, "See? You little worry-wart, I told you going through the incinerator room was a short cut!"  
Dib glared up at him, "The singes on my coat beg to differ. But at least we made it back in good condition…" he batted at a touch of fire on the end of coat, scowling, "well, at least alive…"  
ZiM waved him off, "Bahh, you could've gone through the deep freeze room and been here minutes sooner. DO NOT COMPLAIN ABOUT LESSER COMPLAININGS IN FRONT OF ZIM!"

Jeb squealed and hid behind his pitcher, "We won't, we're sorry!" then scuttled over by Felm, "So… anything?"

Felm nodded, "Oh, of course, but I don't want a repeat of the last two times."

"We may not want it," ZiM growled, "but we DO need to see just before the fire. There was something there, ZiM's… INCREDIBLE SEEING ORGANS… are never wrong…"

Dib had set the tray of coffees down and was sipping at one, "And I hate to agree with ZiM, but I agree. If there's something important we missed, I'd rather find it now than later when we'd need it most."

The medic nearly whimpered, "I know, I know, it gives us time to prepare, but fire and living being don't really mix in the world of mortal lives."

Jeb held up his pitcher of water slowly, his voice in deep tones, "I bring the magic, baby."

Felm breathed quickly, pointing, "Computers and water don't mix, either!"

ZiM, fed up the constant hesitations, suddenly grabbed at Felm's chair with his PAK's robot tentacles and slid it across the room, "HA! So ZiM is the one that must do battle with buttons! FEAR ME NOW, BUTTONS!" he typed in a few commands and the feed started up, showing them crouched in the elevator, "Ah, there we go…"

Dib quickly ran to his side to see, pointing at a slow key, "Here, here, press… ZiM, press that, then maybe we can avoid explosions."

ZiM growled and batted his hands away, "Sit your filthy human coffee down and then sit next to it, ZiM is busy!"

The feed started to grain a bit with the first shriek from the video and the hologram's antennae perked as it quickly slowed the frames by pressing said button.

ZiM scowled slightly and grumbled, "Of course I was going to press that eventually…"

Dib started pointing at more buttons, "Here, try this one too, go frame by frame-"

ZiM angrily smacked the back of Dib's head, but pressed the button, the video going frame by frame as he muttered, "Telling ZiM what to do, the nerve…"

The human glared at him, but let it go for the moment when he saw a strange mist attempting to super impose itself over Felm's new, and now completely destroyed, camera, "THERE! LOOK! Do you see that?!"

ZiM slammed his fists down and started batting at Dib's giant head, shooing him back, "Mush, mush back! ZiM is doing this, not you!"

Dib quickly dropped his coffee and started batting back, "I know more about video than you do! Stop hogging!"

"ZiM DOES NOTHING OF THE HOG, YOU OINK-MONGER!"

"Hogging has NOTHING to do with PIGS!"

"SO SAYS THE HUMAN WITH A HEAD LIKE THIRTY OF THE PIGS STAPLED TOGETHER!"

"YOU'RE A HOLOGRAM!"  
"YOU'RE A DOOKIE-DIAPER!"

"FINE!"

"FINE!" ZiM stepped away from the controls, growling, "Get ON with it, then!"

Dib gave him a sour face and adjusted the controls accordingly, focusing on the mist and using what he knew of human and Irken technologies to better close in on it, "Look, all we have to do is get a better look at it, we're not going to bring fire into this…" he stopped a few frames short, quickly adjusting more controls, "Look… THERE!"

ZiM stepped back to look it over, Jeb and Felm and other techs from about the room pushing in to see what was on the screen.

Dib shivered as he pointed, "See… see that?"

ZiM nodded slowly, "Yes…?"

The human slowly pulled his hand back, "I dreamt about THAT. It was trying to suffocate me…"

On the still feed Dib had isolated and fixed, a swirling dark mass with long arms and claws, a sunken chest, and a face with features that lost themselves in the darkness was erupting from the crevices of the camera. And it was attempting to lash out at the occupants of the elevator.

Felm covered his mouth to hold in the shock of the discovery, while Jeb and a few techs took this opportunity to squeal and hide in a corner.

ZiM carefully disengaged his hologram and hooked directly in to the console, "Dib, back up a sec…"

The human did so and the PAK went to work as it cautiously downloaded the single frame Dib had uncovered. After a moment, the PAK removed itself from the console and whirred, a piece of paper popping out from the top circle of its shell and ZiM's hologram reappearing just in time to snatch it.

"There," the Irk hmmed, staring down at the picture, "now we don't have to worry about any exploding anythings…"

Felm collapsed into his chair and nodded, "Good…"

A loud alarm suddenly ripped through the tension of the COMM room and several of its techs shrieked in terror while one threw up and bounded out of the room to hide.

ZiM jumped in surprise along with Dib but quickly found relief when he saw it was just to show they had a request to board from another ship, "Z-ZiM," he gulped, "ZiM was not scared!" he reached over and tuned into the hailing signal, "ZiM was just… caught off guard…"

Dib rolled his eyes, but nodded with him, "Yeah me too…" he peeked over his shoulder, "What do they want?"

The hologram shrugged, "It's just Saint and N, they're coming to the Massive to dock."

Jeb gasped long and loudly, near holding his breath.

Felm smiled softly, "Well, it'll be nice to see them, regardless of the circumstances."

"Sainty?!" Jeb suddenly managed to shout.

The medic tried to snag a part of Jeb from where he sat to calm him down, "Yes, but he's not here yet-"

"SAINTY!" and the young cook was out the door, screaming as he bounded down to the docking bay.

ZiM shook his head, "We'll deal with the reunion when it comes. For now…" he instated protocols for the smaller ship to be able to land, "let's get them inside. See what information we can piece together."

Dib nodded, walking out, "I'll follow Jeb and see if I can't get him to relax."

ZiM waved him off, then pulled Felm's chair back into position, "There you are, medic, ZiM reinstates you as official computer person. It is yours once more."

Felm got himself settled, looking down at the buttons as ZiM began walking off, "Um… ZiM, I don't actually need to sit and stay here, you know…"

The hologram said nothing as it suddenly was at Felm's side again, pressing a button on the console and then running off again with a cackle.

A loud roar emanated from the computer feed as it was set back to play mode and the computer burst into flames.

Felm squealed, curling up on the chair to avoid any sparks, and all but threw the pitcher of water Jeb had left behind onto the fire, sobbing as he jumped up and out of the room, "ZiM that was a dirty trick!"

_sssssssssss_

Down in the docking bay, Saint had landed his ship and opened the side door to allow N out first. After a moment, Saint joined his friend, giving him a reassuring pat to calm him down when guards started to greet them.

Jeb was already bounding to the ship as fast as he could, screaming excitedly, "SAAAAAINTYEEEEEE!"

The tall Irk looked up and froze, quickly looking for cover, "Oh, shoot, he's running really fast."

N smirked, "Impact will be painful."

And so it was. Jeb smacked right into Saint and tackled him to the ground, hugging him tightly as he sobbed in happiness.

"NO CALLS!" he hiccupped, "NO VISITS!" he sniffed and wiped tears away, "I'm gonna make you fat so you can't run away again!"

Saint simply shrugged, "All right, I'll give you the chance to try…"

The cook squealed excitedly and stood, grabbing N in a hug as well, "And I'll make you fat, too! Then you won't be able to run away, neither!"

N whined as he was held, "Um, either, and I guess you can try…?"

Jeb squealed excitedly, "Hurray! I get to try!"

Dib came huffing up from behind, ZiM's PAK floating after him as it cackled, "HaHA, Dib-stink! Your pathetic human noodles for limbs can't even handle a simple run!"

The human scowled, "Well, you're a hologram, and you didn't even use that to get here!"

ZiM floated passed him before turning his hologram back on, "Don't hate ZiM for being more intelligent and amazing than your stink-worms for ugly brains."

He then turned to Saint and N, "ZiM was informed you were to look over the remains of our enemy's cell. Anything?"

Saint shrugged, "Enough. Something very wrong and creepy in every sense of the words."

"More than that," N huffed, "We best get to the Tallests so they can better prepare for this."

ZiM nodded and shot the attending guards a look of sheer, intense hate to scare them off, then pointed from where they came, "COME! ZiM will escort you ZiMself!" and marched along.

Saint and N followed closely, and Dib held back to catch his breath while Jeb wandered off to begin preparing fatty recipes.

As they went down the hall, they passed an out of breath Felm, and ZiM laughed, "No, no, now we go this way, medic. FOLLOW ZiM!"

Felm watched him go passed with the little group and sighed, simply trudging along after them.

_sssssssssss_

**End of this chapter. But don't worry, I'm actually going to post more. Pinky promise. Unless you don't have a pinky. Then it's just a promise. R&R, I want to hear from old fans, new fans, and out right CONFUSED fans. Damn, Seuss, you got me. ^^**


	19. Heard

**Trying to do this as logically as I can. It's been almost two years! But if you have any questions pertaining to this story or the original Eclipse, please feel free to ask.**

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ZiM had quickly led the group onto the command deck where he knew the Tallests would most likely be. He was actually glad to see them both there. Despite the problems they'd been having with their leadership as of late, they still held most of the power in the Empire.

ZiM peeked over one of their chairs as the two lounged and snacked on donuts, coughing to gain their attention, "Uh, hello?"

Purple coughed on a donut in surprise while Red addressed him, "Ah, ZiM, there you are…" he dug back into his bag of donuts, "So… why are you up here? I thought you were busy exploding things or planning or brooding again."

Purple pouted, "And the brooding! So much brooding lately!"

Red nodded sadly, "I know, it's almost as depressing as an old batch of fries."

"CURLY fries," Purple corrected.

ZiM pointed behind him, "These two arrived. We have information collected and that needs to a part of sharing with the Tallests. Ready?"

Purple stopped him, "Wait, wait now…" he took a long sip from his soda, then sighed, "Mhm, mhm… mhm… O.K." he stood, hovering, "I'm ready."

Saint stepped forward, staring down at an electronic note pad, "Well, it seems Reep had started acting unusual a couple months into his sentence, loud shouting in the middle of the night, chants in different languages, one time a guard went to make an inspection and found him sleeping on the ceiling of the cell. They still don't know how he got up there."

Purple cringed, Red making a disgusted face, "Well… were his PAK legs…?"

N shook his head, "They disable that function to prevent escapes. He'd have to have repaired them somehow, but a small EMP field renders those upgrades useless to prisoners, just to ensure they can't be used."

Red shuddered, "O.K… what else?"

N took in a deep breath, "… He's been possessed…"

Dib's eyes boggled, "A GHOST? Really?! I'm an expert at this, quick! We need to get to the nearest mall so I can stock up on supplies!"

"It's more than a ghost," N growled, "This thing is eating him from the inside out."

ZiM angrily crossed his arms, "And he's near ZiM's smeet. ZiM hopes this isn't contagious…"

Purple saw the look of pain on N's face and waved him along, "Here, let's find somewhere else to talk. Red?"

Red stood, clutching the sodas and donut bags, "Yep, let's go."

_sssssssssss_

The Tallests floated down the halls and into a cafeteria, directing everyone to a large table. As the leaders got comfortable with their snacks, N sighed heavily.

"This is so much more than what I was ready for…" he trembled.

Saint patted his shoulder, "It's going to be O.K., not for a bit, but it will be."

ZiM stood on his seat, as did Dib, so they could be seen better, "ZiM can assure you that a blockade has been made to guard that stinking little planet. If this possessor-thing wishes to overtake Reep and harm the smeet, it will have to try something else."

"Good!" Red said through his soda straw, "So what else?"

N shook his head, "I had to talk to Chi. It was unpleasant, but I was able to learn that this thing, she called it the Void, that it wants the Heart of the universe not for power, but to just have it close," he smiled sadly, "You'd think that wouldn't be a problem, but this happened before, when the gods were still around. And the last time this happened the Void almost killed the Heart when it tried to leave."

Dib paled visibly, "Possessive… it wanted the Heart so close, it was going to crush it."

The Irkens stared at the human.

"It-it loves the light so much, but it loves too tightly!" he remembered, "It's like if you have a pet and you want it to stay on your lap, but it tries to get down. You hold it there to keep it from getting away… The Void doesn't know how to be gentle."

N blinked, "How…?"

ZiM pointed at Dib, "Dib's crazy brain-meats were struck with a horrible vision of horrible things. He got it on tape and it blew up into flames, which was recorded on a camera that burst into flames, and onto a computer console that exploded into flames," ZiM produced the picture he had saved, "THIS IS OUR CULPRIT!"

The hologram set it on the table for all of them to see.

N began to shake and quickly got up, walking away from the table so he could calm down. Saint scowled at the picture and both Tallests stopped eating to stare at it.

Dib shuddered and nodded, "That thing… it's INSIDE Reep? Does he know?"

N shook his head from where he stood, "If he does, I don't think there's a way to remove it. And killing him doesn't appear to be an option, either."

Saint motioned for his friend to sit back down, "Maybe, but there are always options that can keep it away from Eleven."

ZiM's antennae twitched as he sat down on his chair to think, "True. We just need to know which are available to us."

Dib frowned, "Available?"

ZiM smacked a hand on the table, "ZiM WILL EXPLAIN LATER. But first we need to figure out where they are. Have we heard anything from the Resisty?"

Saint coughed to hide a laugh, but N did respond, "They're HELPING?!"

Red nodded, "Well, let's define 'helping'…"

N shuddered and sat back down, "Just don't bring them anywhere near me. I have a problem with Vortians…"

ZiM hmmed, "Well, they won't be coming here. ZiM believes you to be safe," he patted at N's arm, "Have you spoken to your siblings?"

N's eyes widened and he shook his head, "Are you kidding, NO. Gik would throw a fit so big, nothing would be able to contain it."

Saint shrugged, "That and we didn't want to worry them with what little information we had. If we bring the rest of the clones into this, we want to be sure about it."

Felm tiredly made his way to the table, sitting on the end, "All of you… move too… quickly."

Saint nodded, "Nice to see you too. We just got through talking about this Void thing that destroyed your camera."

The medic whined, "I REALLY liked that camera… Anything else?"

Dib pointed excitedly at the picture, "The thing's inside Reep! Like a ghost or tape worm!"

Felm sat up quickly, "What, he gets to live while my camera explodes?! That device-hating demon!"

Red hmmed as he nibbled on a donut, "Well, maybe that's not a bad thing. If Eleven's close by and Reep burst into flames, that wouldn't exactly be good…"

Purple nodded, "Yeah, but then he'd be able to get away."

"Not if the Void is freed," N grumbled, "Then E wouldn't be able to protect himself. As much as I hate to say this, until Reep is fully consumed, he has a chance to keep Eleven safe. I'm hoping he noticed what was happening to him."

"Things?" Purple's antennae perked, "What other things besides being found sleeping on the ceiling?"

N picked at the picture of the Void, "Both Ray and Chi said Reep's eyes were black and he was speaking ancient languages. Not just old, but ancient-ancient. Older than Chi ancient. So not only is he running around with the power of fire, and probably other elements, this thing seems to overtake him whenever it feels like it."

Saint patted his shoulder again, "And every minute we're still here, you know he's O.K."

N let his forehead hit the table, "It doesn't help much…"

ZiM rubbed his chin in thought and grumbled something before shouting into the open, "GIR!"

A shriek of horror came from a few tables down when a COMM's pie suddenly exploded open and GIR shot out covered in pie filling, "I'MMA PIE-BURSTER!" he then latched onto Dib's face, hissing happily, "NOW WE MAKE A PIE BABY!"

ZiM snarled and ripped the robot from Dib's face as the human sputtered and coughed; the hologram glared at him, "NO! Bad, GIR! We have work to do!"

The robot gasped and saluted, eyes red, "Yes, my master."

ZiM set GIR down and shooed him off, "Go do that dance you do, but do it in a closet or Felm's room or something. ZiM will find you later."

GIR squealed and ran off, "YYYYYYAAAAAY, I GOTTA GO STEAL SOME PANTS!"

The hologram shuddered, whispering to the table, "Keep a tight hold of your pants…"

Red watched the SIR unit run off, "How is your robot's dance and stealing pants going to fix all this?"

"Fix?" ZiM perked, "No, it will not fix, but it will assist. Trust ZiM. ZiM's human neighbors have lost many a pair of pants for this."

Dib got back to his feet shakily, wiping crust and filling from his face, "Aw, I thought that was a neighborhood ghost or a pantless bigfoot in the area."

ZiM hopped down from his chair, "NOPE, just GIR's idiotness. Now, I suggest we check in with the Resisty, my Tallest. GIR will come to find ZiM later."

A loud rumbling came to the table as Sizz-Lorr suddenly ran up to them, brandishing his spatula at the ready, "Robot in the pie! Where'd he go?!"

Felm slowly pointed down the hall and the fry cook ran off, Jeb coming in to run after him, "I CAN'T BELIEVE IT WAS IN MY PIES!"

_sssssssssss_

The tension on the command deck was thick with worry. If the Resisty were proving to be unfaithful, bad things would quickly ensue.

Tallest Purple was pacing at the front of the room while Red was looking over a COMM tech's every move.

"I-I'm sorry, sirs," the COMM reported, "but the Resisty still refuses our call."

ZiM growled angrily, "Well, CALL them again!"

The COMM nodded and did so.

N paced nervously with Purple, "They wouldn't just ignore this, would they?"

Red shook his head, coming over to sit down in his chair, "We had negotiations earlier, for them to do this would have drastic consequences for them. They care just as much for the existence of this universe as we do."

Saint watched from the side, leaning on a wall, "You've hailed them seven times now, if they're not picking up then maybe something is wrong."

The COMM trying to call the Resisty suddenly stopped, "Ahh, sirs? We're being hailed on our private line by an unknown caller."

Purple's antennae flattened, "From where?"

"The computer says Rebelios, the Rebellion Planet."

Red rolled his eyes, "Of COURSE, why didn't we think to bomb that place yet?"

Purple hmmed, "Patch them through…"

The COMM lit up the main screen and Lard-Nar's panicked and angry face popped up, the Vortian yelling at the top of his lungs something of sorts and pointing at Spleenk as the alien coward away and looked to be apologizing; the audio was grainy and spotting out.

"Sirs," another COMM sputtered, "we have a sudden energy spike in room LZ2-G6, specifically, its closet."

Felm was in the corner, looking over documents, when he squealed, "MY ROOM!"

The first COMM typed feverishly to reestablish the audio feed when Lard-Nar's voice suddenly boomed throughout the command deck, "-TRYING TO CALL YOU, AND REEP STOLE OUR SHIP!"

Everyone on the deck hushed and fell silent. N nearly collapsed at the horrible news but Purple caught him and eased him down. ZiM cursed loudly, kicking a COMM right out of his chair. Dib looked sadly to the floor.

Red stared in disbelief at the Vortian before yelling at him for his incompetence, shouting every horrid thing he could think of.

While the Tallests began arguing with Lard-Nar, GIR skipped into the room and quietly tugged on ZiM's arm, "Master, I did th' dance!"

ZiM nodded slowly, sighing, "And…?"

GIR pointed behind him and ZiM's eyes widened, a smile of victory on his face, "My Tallests…" they ignored him, still shouting at the Resisty leader, "MY TALLESTS!"

Red and Purple stopped, looking back at ZiM.

ZiM sneered darkly, "It seems we now have our advantage…" he pointed to the open door way as three sets of foot steps drew ever closer.

_sssssssssss_

**Yep, I'm leaving you with that. Why? Because it would be wrong of me to spoil such a treat. And we miss little E, don't we? He'll be in the next chapter… R&R, if you wouldn't mind.**


	20. Crushed

**Any questions or comments you have about this story can be asked here or you can search me on deviantart, I still house an account there. The artist name is still megadoomingir.**

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Reep had locked himself away. Since Eleven reawoke him a couple hours prior he'd been on edge. He had decided to watch the video feed of the newest change while Eleven kept an eye on him. He hadn't changed that time, but he was sure it would happen again. His knowing that this thing controlled him, that it was in his very thoughts and nestled deep within the pit of his emotions, terrified him.

Reep was actually afraid.

And so, he locked himself in one of the storage rooms to sit and think. He knew the smeet couldn't tell the ship to change course and so wasn't fearful Eleven would escape. So just sitting and thinking and trying to gain his sanity and body back was all he could do at the moment.

A tiny knock came at the door of the room and Reep growled, "Eleven, I told you to stay back. We don't know when this could happen again," he could feel the creature within him stirring, wanting the smeet close again; Reep snarled, "Get away from the door."

The smeet pouted on the other side, "But th' 'puter said I gots t' get you. There's a beep-beep-beep an' a planet an' other things an' I would go an' fix it m'self, but your ship said that I am a no-no."

The older Irk crouched on the floor and held his head tightly. Think. Focus. Think…

Reep finally stood after a few minutes and went to the door, unlocking it, "Fine, I'm coming out. But you must hide yourself away. Don't tell me where you are and don't be near the computer console or flight controls."

Eleven scuttled away from the door and hid in the kitchen, climbing into one of the cupboards. When Reep was sure he was safely tucked away, he came out of the room slowly and went over to the computer controls.

"Computer," he murmured, "Status update."

The computer beeped to life, "Multiple updates ready. Ship status: poor. Fuel low, transmission low, engine block two and six at less than twenty percent power, cooling tanks at less than half full. Designation status: adequate. Seventy-eight percent of course traveled. WARNING: planet inbound. Rebelios, the Rebellion Planet, at your direct right."

Reep covered his face to hide his stress, but nodded, "All right… We're going to land then. Thank you for your services."

The computer beeped back, "It has been an honor, sir," then powered down and remotely navigated the ship downwards towards the planet.

Reep had been to this place before. He knew what to expect. When he first established the R.A.I., he had come here first, looking for followers. He had stayed for many months to understand why these fellows fought and to see if he could gain any secrets about the Empire he hadn't already thought to exploit. But it had been useless. This cityscape planet was just as dirty and filthy as every other planet the Irken Empire had conquered and the inhabitants were slaves to their own ideas of what the universe should be like; nearly half, he was sure, were insane.

But they were here again, flying through the enormous dust storms the planet suffered from every now and again, and landing on a runway strip that had been abandoned nearly as soon as it was built.

Reep sighed when they touched down, growling, "And now I must suffer the companies of beings who know nothing of fighting for beliefs…"

Eleven peeked out from his hiding place and whimpered, "Choo?"

The older Irk's antennae perked and he shook his head, "Not yet, you stay hidden until I say so."

The smeet let out a small peep and hid again.

Reep looked out the cockpit window and sighed before going to the side door and peeking out. The area was empty. Most of the planet had been long forgotten. He nodded to himself, then went back inside, looking around.

"Eleven?" he didn't get an answer, "Smeet, I'm telling you to come out now."

Reep frowned when he didn't get even a squeak and started looking about the room, "Eleven, answer me now!"

The monster snarled and began ripping open cupboards and tossing aside cushions and chairs looking for the little Irk. But his efforts were proving fruitless.

Reep panted angrily, feeling the monster within him starting to fester. It was bubbling up, screaming to be loosed. The Irk fell his knees and tried to steady himself, but he felt the monster clawing up inside him and out, reaching out into the light, tearing…

Reep suddenly became calm. His eyes turned black and dead to the world. The creature was awake again.

It peered around the room carefully, then snorted angrily when it realized Eleven was no longer in the ship. No longer in the room. No longer close to him.

The monster roared and ran out the door, seeing little footprints left in the sands on the tarmac leading away from the ship. Its black eyes glared angrily and it ran as fast as it could into the newly forming dust storm. The winds whipped into its clothes and tried to pull him off target, but soon the monster saw its prey.

Eleven whimpered and fought against the wind as he tried to walk, but it was getting harder to see. He couldn't hear the monster coming up behind him, claws outstretched for him. The smeet held tightly to his clothes and whined, yelping when dangerous hands snatched him up.

The monster growled loudly but suddenly settled when the smeet clung to him and squeaked, trying to hide from the dangerous winds. It purred softly and cradled him, then marched along in the dust, striding forward.

Eleven's tiny claws gripped against the body as tight as he could. He knew this wasn't Reep right now. He knew this was dangerous. But getting lost here was much worse.

_sssssssssss_

The monster's eyes stared down at the little smeet as they slowly drew closer to the city. The dark orbs gently reflected what little light they had back at the smeet and Eleven just kept his gaze down. He didn't want to give the monster anything, not even eye contact. And he was very sure this was the longest he could tell of Reep being stuck like this. He didn't like it. The monster didn't talk much. He just held him and hissed a little.

The monster had finally made it to what seemed like a road and on the side was a small building, lost and as abandoned as they were. The smeet was carried tenderly inside and set down on a lone table, then the monster sat in front of him, smiling and watching.

Eleven hummed and glanced back, causing the monster to twitch in anticipation.

Finally, the smeet drew a breath, " … Hi!"

The dark eyes watched him carefully.

Eleven fidgeted, "Umm… you gots a name?"

The monster just stared.

The smeet pouted and crossed his arm, "If you're nah gonna talk t' me, den I'mma nah gonna talk t' YOU!" he turned away angrily.

The monster gasped and whined, getting up to sit right in front of the little Irk, trying to gently touch his cheek, but Eleven pulled away, "No!"

The monster snarled, but the smeet glared at him, "No, no, no!"

Black eyes glared back into blue ones, yet Eleven didn't let up. The monster hissed lowly and stood up in front of him.

The little Irk didn't want to back down but at the same time he was very afraid of what this monster would do. The monster was breathing raggedly, glaring and hissing darkly, but he wasn't tackling or grabbing at him yet.

Yet.

Eleven finally relaxed a bit, "If you wan' t' be near me, den you have t' talk t' me."

Black eyes wavered and a groan escaped the monster's mouth. It was clear it understood. It was also clear that it couldn't speak the language Eleven wanted.

The smeet hmmed, "Well, you can nod, huh?"

The monster's head cocked to the side, but it nodded all the same.

"Good!" Eleven chirped and dropped to the floor; the monster quickly snatched him up to hold him, but the smeet expected this, "Then you can nod if you like something and shake if you don't."

The monster nuzzled him close and sighed contently, letting its host body just fall to the floor to sit. Eleven squealed at the sudden drop, holding tightly onto the monster's dusty shirt, then cooed when he saw a small bug scuttle across the floor.

"MMMMINE!" he squeaked, launching out of the monster's grip to catch it.

Black eyes grew darker and sharp claws suddenly latched on tightly to the smeet's little body, dragging him back into the monster's waiting lap with a snarl. Eleven shrieked as the claws dug in and tried to pry them off, but Reep's body was bigger and stronger than his. And the monster inside him wanted him close.

Eleven felt the larger arms beginning to crush into his body, squeaking the air out of him and causing him to whimper. The monster growled angrily and kept curling in, tighter and tighter, squishing the little smeet in as close it could get him to be. Eleven had tears escaping his eyes as he tried desperately to get a breath, and he could feel the last little bit of air that he head just about ready to leave him.

"R…" he tried, "ee…"

But the arms just kept squeezing him.

Eleven trembled as the grip continued to worsen when a sudden burst of energy pushed from his chest, fighting the arms off his body just enough for him to get a breath in and scream, "REEP, REEP, WAKE UP!"

The monster gripping him laxed immediately and Reep groaned as he dropped Eleven and rolled over. The smeet coughed and crawled away to hide under the table as fast as he could, a little orb of light under his shirt poking out the top to look around.

Eleven curled up and cradled the sphere, his Guardian, as he cried softly.

Reep sat up slowly. He looked around, saw Eleven, and asked no questions. He shakily extended a hand to the wailing child, who flinched away, then gently took him by the arm and pulled him out, resting him in his arms as he carried him out of the building.

"I'm sorry," he murmured multiple times, "I'm sorry this is happening."

The smeet didn't speak to him, he only held onto his Guardian tightly.

Reep sighed, walking slower, "If I knew what this was, I'd have it fixed, but in light of what we are dealing with, I don't think a doctor can just whisk it away…"

When Eleven didn't respond again, he instead tried to change the subject, "Ahem, it's… nice I suppose to see you have your orb again. How is…" he remembered back, "um, 'he'?"

The smeet shrugged, hiccupping as he curling in on himself and closed him eyes.

"That's good…" Reep grumbled.

He looked ahead much farther down the way and almost sneered when he saw what they were approaching, "Oh, how quite unfair…"

It was a docking bay full of ships. And one in particular caught his eye.

"Smeet," Reep hissed, "if you do not stay very quiet in the next few minutes, I will personally call this creature within me up to see you…"

Eleven stayed stock-still and didn't move.

The older Irk smirked, "Good."

He crept quickly over to a rather nicely sized ship for maybe seven or eight occupants, but inwardly laughed when he saw the entirety of the Resisty pouring out, screaming at the fresh air and some kissing the dirt at their feet. Lard-Nar yelled at them to stop wasting time and to head to the shops they wanted to go to. They would be leaving again soon.

Reep liked the way that sounded. Except they would have to leave in something else.

He waited for the last Resisty member to vacate the area before running to the door and peeking around. Eleven rested in his arms and he wouldn't be able to do this properly without both arms free.

He hissed down at the smeet, "Remember what I said?" Eleven didn't look at him, but he did nod slightly, "Good. My PAK is going to hold you. If you scream or try to get away, I will let this creature have you for as long as it cares for. Understand?"

The smeet nodded again and was quickly enveloped by a pair of tentacles, holding him against Reep's back snuggly. The little Irk only whimpered slightly, and Reep let it slide due to what he must have gone through earlier; he didn't know specifics, but he could imagine.

Once the smeet was settled, Reep pounded harshly on the door and stepped to the side. Spleenk opened the door enthusiastically and cheered, "You brought the plunger-"

Reep grabbed him by his shirt and threw him out roughly, closing and locking the door with a laugh when the alien yelled 'hey'. It only took mere seconds for Reep to activate the ship's engines and shoot off, all of which he did with a smug grin on his face.

"There, that wasn't so bad," he mused, allowing Eleven back on the floor as he began to input coordinates, "And you were such a good little smeet. How proud you do make me."

Eleven shrugged and sat in the chair Lard-Nar usually sat in, "Do I?"

Reep was taken aback by the forwardness of the question, "Well… yes. You listened to me and did what I asked of you, what's not to be proud of?"

Eleven thumbed at Guardian, the pulsating light of a familiar presence calming him, "Den next time, dun you say you're gonna kill me."

The older Irk was _very_ taken aback by that. He hadn't threatened the smeet with death; he said he was going to let the creature out-… Reep paled. Had the monster inside him, this dark black thing… had it tried to kill the smeet? The monster within him rumbled, but he was not presented with a feeling that this creature denied it.

_sssssssssss_

**Looks like Reep is slowly starting to understand this monster now. I don't think he wants to fully understand it though. That could end badly for him…**


End file.
